Bethel’s library is a branch of Sheppard Memorial Library, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Bethel’s library is the Blount Library, a branch of Sheppard Memorial Library, which serves 170,353 people and lent 486K items last year.
Bethel’s library, in brief
Open only about 12 hours a week
The Bethel branch keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Sheppard Memorial Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Sheppard Memorial Library system offered 691 programs last year, 4.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 59% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Sheppard Memorial Library system spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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; Bethel’s library is a branch of Sheppard Memorial Library, so they cover the whole system (170,353 people), not just the Bethel branch.
What’s behind Bethel’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bethel is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns. Bethel is graded on two of the three inputs. Bethel’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$66K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Bethel
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Bethel’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical North Carolina 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 Bethel’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sheppard Memorial Library serves 170,353 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sheppard Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
486K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
122,705 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Blount Library, 201 Ives St., Bethel.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sheppard Memorial Library branch.
New in Bethel? 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 $2.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bethel cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.6M 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 63,165 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Blount Library is one branch of Sheppard Memorial Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 170,353 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 Bethel
Does Bethel have a public library?
Yes: Blount Library, 201 Ives St., is a branch of Sheppard Memorial Library, which serves 170,353 people. The branch is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sheppard Memorial 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 Bethel’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bethel’s civic life grade?
C Bethel is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bethel.
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.