Alfred Rowland House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Lumberton’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Robeson County Public Library serves 116,438 people in and around Lumberton. Last year it lent 103K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
The short version on Lumberton’s library
Robeson County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Robeson County Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Robeson County Public Library offered 270 programs last year, 2.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Robeson County Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 270 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.1 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Robeson County Public Library serves 116,438 people in and around Lumberton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lumberton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lumberton is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #71 of 234 in North Carolina. Lumberton is graded on two of the three inputs. Lumberton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
128 community nonprofits are registered in Lumberton
6.8 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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of Lumberton’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 Lumberton’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.
Robeson County Public Library serves 116,438 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Robeson County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
103K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,270 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Robeson County Public Library, 101 N Chestnut St., Lumberton.
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 Robeson County Public Library branch.
New in Lumberton? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lumberton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 8,754 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumberton | Robeson County Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | C+ |
| Barker Ten Mile | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Robeson County Public Library serves 116,438 people in and around Lumberton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lumberton.
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 Lumberton
Does Lumberton have a public library?
Yes. Robeson County Public Library, 101 N Chestnut St., serves 116,438 people in and around Lumberton (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Robeson 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 Lumberton’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lumberton’s civic life grade?
C+ Lumberton is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #71 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 Lumberton.
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.