Photo: Leah Rucker · CC BY-SA 3.0Hillsborough’s library runs 6.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Orange County Public Library serves 90,538 people in and around Hillsborough. Last year it lent 482K books, movies and e-books and logged 150K visits.
The short version on Hillsborough’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 76% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Orange County Public Library offered 561 programs last year, 6.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
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; Orange County Public Library serves 90,538 people in and around Hillsborough, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hillsborough’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hillsborough is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #11 of 234 in North Carolina. Hillsborough is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Hillsborough
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Hillsborough’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 Hillsborough’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.
Orange County Public Library serves 90,538 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 81 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Orange County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
482K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
101,031 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Orange County Public Library, 137 W Margaret Ln, Hillsborough.
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 Orange County Public Library branch.
New in Hillsborough? 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 $2.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hillsborough cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 22,145 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Orange County Public Library serves 90,538 people in and around Hillsborough, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hillsborough.
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 Hillsborough
Does Hillsborough have a public library?
Yes. Orange County Public Library, 137 W Margaret Ln, serves 90,538 people in and around Hillsborough (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orange 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 Hillsborough’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 5.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hillsborough’s civic life grade?
A Hillsborough is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Hillsborough.
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.