Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domainWaynesboro’s library runs 2.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System serves 19,703 people in and around Waynesboro. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
Waynesboro’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
31,984 cards for 19,703 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System serves 19,703 people in and around Waynesboro, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Waynesboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Waynesboro is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #63 of 85 in Mississippi. Waynesboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System spends $20 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($24K–$40K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Waynesboro
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Waynesboro’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Waynesboro’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System serves 19,703 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
773 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
49 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Waynesboro-Wayne County Library, 1103 A Mississippi Drive, Waynesboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System branch.
New in Waynesboro? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waynesboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $384K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $703K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $384K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 31,984 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System serves 19,703 people in and around Waynesboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Waynesboro.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Waynesboro
Does Waynesboro have a public library?
Yes. Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System, 1103 A Mississippi Drive, serves 19,703 people in and around Waynesboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waynesboro-Wayne County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Waynesboro’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Waynesboro’s civic life grade?
D Waynesboro is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #63 of 85 in Mississippi. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Waynesboro.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.