Biscoe’s library is a branch of Sandhill Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 83% of systems its size
Biscoe’s library is the Allen Library, a branch of Sandhill Regional Library System, which serves 216,654 people and lent 417K items last year.
Biscoe’s library, in brief
The Sandhill Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Sandhill Regional Library System records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
The Biscoe branch keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 71% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Biscoe’s library is a branch of Sandhill Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (216,654 people), not just the Biscoe branch.
What’s behind Biscoe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Biscoe is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. Biscoe is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Biscoe’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Sandhill Regional Library System spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Biscoe
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
2.5%
2.5% of Biscoe’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 Biscoe’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sandhill Regional Library System serves 216,654 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sandhill Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
417K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
69,998 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 30 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
Allen Library, 307 Page St., Biscoe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sandhill Regional Library System branch.
New in Biscoe? 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 $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Biscoe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 94,029 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Allen Library is one branch of Sandhill Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 216,654 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 Biscoe
Does Biscoe have a public library?
Yes: Allen Library, 307 Page St., is a branch of Sandhill Regional Library System, which serves 216,654 people. The branch is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sandhill Regional Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Biscoe’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Biscoe’s civic life grade?
D− Biscoe is ahead of 4% 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 Biscoe.
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.