Thomas and Lois Wheless House · Photo: Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Louisburg’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Franklin County Library serves 77,561 people in and around Louisburg. Last year it lent 148K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
The short version on Louisburg’s library
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 330 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Franklin County 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
Franklin County Library offered 330 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 67% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; Franklin County Library serves 77,561 people in and around Louisburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Louisburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Louisburg is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #195 of 234 in North Carolina. Louisburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Louisburg’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Franklin County Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Louisburg
2.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.3%
4.3% of Louisburg’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 Louisburg’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin County Library serves 77,561 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
148K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,091 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Franklin County Library, 906 N Main St., Louisburg.
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 Franklin County Library branch.
New in Louisburg? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Louisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 24,407 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Franklin County Library serves 77,561 people in and around Louisburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Louisburg.
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 Louisburg
Does Louisburg have a public library?
Yes. Franklin County Library, 906 N Main St., serves 77,561 people in and around Louisburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin County 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 Louisburg’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Louisburg’s civic life grade?
D Louisburg is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #195 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 Louisburg.
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.