Central School Historic District · Photo: Upstateherd · CC BY-SA 3.0Kings Mountain’s library runs 49 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Jacob Mauney Memorial Library serves Kings Mountain’s 11,600 residents. Last year it lent 75K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
Kings Mountain’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 566 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Jacob S. Mauney Memorial Library and Teacher's Home has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2014. Today’s library there has 13,457 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 69% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 73% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
83% of Kings Mountain carry a library card
9,578 cards for 11,600 people, or 83%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Kings Mountain’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kings Mountain is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #156 of 234 in North Carolina. Library visits hold 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Kings Mountain
2.0 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of Kings Mountain’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 Kings Mountain’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Kings Mountain last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Jacob Mauney Memorial Library serves 11,600 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
75K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
24,451 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2014
Jacob Mauney Memorial Library, 100 S Piedmont Ave, Kings Mountain.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kings Mountain? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Jacob S. Mauney Memorial Library and Teacher's Home
Mauney, Jacob S., Memorial Library and Teacher's Home was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 16, 2014. It is significant for its education and social history at the local level.
Jacob S. Mauney Memorial Library and Teacher's Home, also known as the Mauney Memorial Library and Dr. Jacob George Van Buren Hord House, is a historic home and library located at Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, North Carolina. It was built in 1923 as a private dwelling and donated to the city of Kings Mountain in 1947.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kings Mountain cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $868K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $868K 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 9,578 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− |
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 Kings Mountain
Does Kings Mountain have a public library?
Yes. Jacob Mauney Memorial Library, 100 S Piedmont Ave, serves Kings Mountain’s 11,600 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jacob Mauney 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 Kings Mountain’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kings Mountain’s civic life grade?
C− Kings Mountain is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #156 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 Kings Mountain.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.