Photo: GastoniaHappening Jim Bob Willy · CC BY-SA 4.0Gastonia’s library is a branch of Gaston County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 60% of systems its size
Gastonia’s library is the Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters), a branch of Gaston County Public Library, which serves 239,636 people and lent 863K items last year.
What stands out about Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters)
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gastonia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gastonia is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #134 of 234 in North Carolina. Gastonia is graded on two of the three inputs. Gastonia’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 ($48K–$80K) 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 →
318 community nonprofits are registered in Gastonia
3.8 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 (131 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Gastonia’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 Gastonia’s residents live; 2022.
About 44 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Gaston County Public Library serves 239,636 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 Gaston County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
863K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
213,903 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Gastonia
Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters), 1555 E Garrison Blvd, Gastonia.
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 Gaston County Public Library branch.
New in Gastonia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Gaston County Public Library branches in Gastonia
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gastonia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M 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 89,783 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings Mountain | Jacob Mauney Memorial Library | 6.5 | 50 | C− |
| Gastonia | Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters) fine-free | — | 46 | C− |
| Bessemer City | Bessemer City Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Lowell | Lowell Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | C |
| Dallas | Dallas Branch Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Springdale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cramerton | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Ranlo | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters) is one branch of Gaston County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 239,636 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 Gastonia
Does Gastonia have a public library?
Yes: Gaston County Public Library (Regional Headquarters), 1555 E Garrison Blvd, is a branch of Gaston County Public Library, which serves 239,636 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gaston County Public 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 Gastonia’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Gastonia’s civic life grade?
C− Gastonia is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Gastonia.
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.