Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0Lexington’s library is a branch of Davidson County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Lexington’s library is the Lexington Public Library, a branch of Davidson County Public Library System, which serves 169,229 people and lent 519K items last year.
What stands out about Lexington Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lexington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lexington is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #120 of 234 in North Carolina. Lexington is graded on two of the three inputs. Lexington’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 ($32K–$54K) 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 →
91 community nonprofits are registered in Lexington
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (28 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.2%
3.2% of Lexington’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 Lexington’s residents live; 2022.
About 30 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Davidson County Public Library System serves 169,229 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Davidson County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
519K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
187,667 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lexington Public Library, 602 S Main St., Lexington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Davidson County Public Library System branch.
New in Lexington? 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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lexington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M 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 72,037 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lexington Public Library is one branch of Davidson County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 169,229 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 Lexington
Does Lexington have a public library?
Yes: Lexington Public Library, 602 S Main St., is a branch of Davidson County Public Library System, which serves 169,229 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Davidson County Public Library System 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 Lexington’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lexington’s civic life grade?
C Lexington is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #120 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 Lexington.
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.