Photo: Aaron Hines/City of Greenville · Public domainGreenville’s library runs 4.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Sheppard Memorial Library serves 170,353 people in and around Greenville from 3 locations. Last year it lent 486K books, movies and e-books and logged 244K visits.
Greenville’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Sheppard Memorial Library 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
Sheppard Memorial Library 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
Sheppard Memorial Library 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; Sheppard Memorial Library serves 170,353 people in and around Greenville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Greenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenville is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #101 of 234 in North Carolina. Greenville is graded on two of the three inputs. Greenville’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 ($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 →
462 community nonprofits are registered in Greenville
5.0 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 (135 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Greenville’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 Greenville’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.
3 places to borrow in Greenville
Sheppard Memorial Library, 530 S Evans St., Greenville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sheppard Memorial Library branch.
New in Greenville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sheppard Memorial Library branches in Greenville
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 Greenville 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | Sheppard Memorial Library | — | 50 | C |
| Winterville | Winterville Public Library | — | 46 | 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.
- System-wide. Sheppard Memorial Library serves 170,353 people in and around Greenville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greenville.
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 Greenville
Does Greenville have a public library?
Yes. Sheppard Memorial Library, 530 S Evans St., serves 170,353 people in and around Greenville (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 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 Greenville’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 Greenville’s civic life grade?
C Greenville is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Greenville.
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.