St. Stephens’ library is a branch of Catawba County Library, which lends less per resident than 59% of systems its size
St. Stephens’s library is the St. Stephens Branch Library, a branch of Catawba County Library, which serves 120,898 people and lent 455K items last year.
What stands out about St. Stephens Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind St. Stephens’ civic life grade
St. Stephens isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Catawba County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in St. Stephens
St. Stephens is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.7%
4.7% of St. Stephens’ 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 St. Stephens’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Catawba County Library serves 120,898 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Catawba County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Catawba County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
455K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
126,559 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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
St. Stephens Branch Library, 3225 Springs Rd, Hickory.
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 Catawba County Library branch.
New in St. Stephens? 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 $2.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Stephens cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 16,113 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.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. St. Stephens Branch Library is one branch of Catawba County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 120,898 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 St. Stephens
Does St. Stephens have a public library?
Yes: St. Stephens Branch Library, 3225 Springs Rd, is a branch of Catawba County Library, which serves 120,898 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Catawba 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 St. Stephens’ library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is St. Stephens’ civic life grade?
St. Stephens isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Catawba County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in St. Stephens.
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.