Photo: Townofspringlake · CC BY-SA 4.0Spring Lake’s library is a branch of Cumberland County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 54% of systems its size
Spring Lake’s library is the Spring Lake Branch Library, a branch of Cumberland County Public Library, which serves 337,970 people and lent 1.3M items last year.
What stands out about Spring Lake Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Spring Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spring Lake is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #192 of 234 in North Carolina. Spring Lake is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Spring Lake’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 Spring Lake
2.4 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Spring Lake’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 Spring Lake’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.
Cumberland County Public Library serves 337,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cumberland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
257,245 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 29 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
Spring Lake Branch Library, 101 Laketree Blvd, Spring Lake.
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 Cumberland County Public Library branch.
New in Spring Lake? 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 $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spring Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 73,934 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake | Spring Lake Branch Library fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Fayetteville | Headquarters Library fine-free | — | 61 | D |
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. Spring Lake Branch Library is one branch of Cumberland County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 337,970 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 Spring Lake
Does Spring Lake have a public library?
Yes: Spring Lake Branch Library, 101 Laketree Blvd, is a branch of Cumberland County Public Library, which serves 337,970 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cumberland 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 Spring Lake’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Spring Lake’s civic life grade?
D Spring Lake is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #192 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 Spring Lake.
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.