Photo: Upstateherd · CC BY-SA 4.0Sanford’s library is a branch of Lee County Library, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
Sanford’s library is the Suzanne Reeves Branch, a branch of Lee County Library, which serves 67,308 people and lent 189K items last year.
The short version on Sanford’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Lee County Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 651 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8.4 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; Sanford’s library is a branch of Lee County Library, so they cover the whole system (67,308 people), not just the Sanford branch.
What’s behind Sanford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sanford is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #64 of 234 in North Carolina. Sanford is graded on two of the three inputs. Sanford’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 ($43K–$72K) 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 →
196 community nonprofits are registered in Sanford
6.2 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 (65 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Sanford’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 Sanford’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.
Lee County Library serves 67,308 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lee County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
189K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
45,203 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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
Suzanne Reeves Branch, 107 Hawkins Ave, Sanford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lee County Library branch.
New in Sanford? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sanford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 25,780 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Suzanne Reeves Branch is one branch of Lee County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 67,308 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 Sanford
Does Sanford have a public library?
Yes: Suzanne Reeves Branch, 107 Hawkins Ave, is a branch of Lee County Library, which serves 67,308 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lee County 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 Sanford’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sanford’s civic life grade?
C+ Sanford is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #64 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 Sanford.
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.