Clayton Graded School and Clayton Grammar School-Municipal Auditorium · Photo: LikeGrantTookRichmond · CC BY-SA 3.0Clayton’s library runs 8.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library serves Clayton’s 30,151 residents. Last year it lent 167K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
What Clayton’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 72% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 78% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 29,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average. 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.
What’s behind Clayton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Clayton is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #126 of 234 in North Carolina. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Clayton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$99K) 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 →
93 community nonprofits are registered in Clayton
3.2 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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Clayton’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 Clayton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library serves 30,151 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 63 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
167K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average.
28,366 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Clayton last year.
Find it
Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library, 100 S Church St., Clayton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clayton? 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 $2.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clayton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $902K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $902K 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 8,200 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayton | Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library fine-free | 5.5 | 51 | C− |
| Archer Lodge | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Clayton
Does Clayton have a public library?
Yes. Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library, 100 S Church St., serves Clayton’s 30,151 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hocutt Ellington Memorial Library 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 Clayton’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Clayton’s civic life grade?
C− Clayton is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 of 234 in North Carolina. 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 Clayton.
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.