Photo: Woodlot · CC BY-SA 4.0Wiggins’ library is a branch of Pine Forest Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 98% of systems its size
Wiggins’s library is the Stone County Library, a branch of Pine Forest Regional Library, which serves 43,672 people and lent 15K items last year.
What Wiggins’s library is like
The Pine Forest Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Pine Forest Regional Library system records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Mississippi pays a big share
34% of the budget comes from the state, and 49% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Pine Forest Regional Library system spends $6 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Wiggins’s library is a branch of Pine Forest Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (43,672 people), not just the Wiggins branch.
What’s behind Wiggins’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wiggins is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #50 of 85 in Mississippi. Wiggins 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.
Pine Forest Regional Library spends $6 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Wiggins
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Wiggins’ 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 Wiggins’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pine Forest Regional Library serves 43,672 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pine Forest Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,750 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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
Stone County Library, 242 Second Street, South, Wiggins.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pine Forest Regional Library branch.
New in Wiggins? 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 $1.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wiggins cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $279K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $281K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $279K 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 18,431 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wiggins | Stone County Library | — | 40 | D |
| Bond | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stone County Library is one branch of Pine Forest Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 43,672 people it serves.
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 Wiggins
Does Wiggins have a public library?
Yes: Stone County Library, 242 Second Street, South, is a branch of Pine Forest Regional Library, which serves 43,672 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pine Forest Regional Library 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 Wiggins’ library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wiggins’ civic life grade?
D Wiggins is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 Wiggins.
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.