Photo: G Keith Hall · CC BY-SA 3.0Mount Airy’s library is a branch of Northwestern Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size
Mount Airy’s library is the Mount Airy Public Library, a branch of Northwestern Regional Library, which serves 166,502 people and lent 467K items last year.
Mount Airy’s library, in brief
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
The Northwestern Regional Library system ran 5,257 programs last year, about 101 a week. That’s 32 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 76,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
North Carolina pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. 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; Mount Airy’s library is a branch of Northwestern Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (166,502 people), not just the Mount Airy branch.
What’s behind Mount Airy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Airy is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #185 of 234 in North Carolina. Mount Airy is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Mount Airy’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Northwestern Regional Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$50K) 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Airy
2.6 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.7%
4.7% of Mount Airy’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 Mount Airy’s residents live; 2022.
About 43 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Northwestern Regional Library serves 166,502 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northwestern Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
467K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,022 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mount Airy Public Library, 145 Rockford St., Mount Airy.
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 Northwestern Regional Library branch.
New in Mount Airy? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Airy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 64,946 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Airy | Mount Airy Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Toast | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Flat Rock | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| White Plains | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Mount Airy Public Library is one branch of Northwestern Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 166,502 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 Mount Airy
Does Mount Airy have a public library?
Yes: Mount Airy Public Library, 145 Rockford St., is a branch of Northwestern Regional Library, which serves 166,502 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northwestern Regional 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 Mount Airy’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Mount Airy’s civic life grade?
D Mount Airy is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #185 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 Mount Airy.
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.