Stony Point’s library is a branch of Alexander County Library, which lends less per resident than 79% of systems its size
Stony Point’s library is the Stony Point Branch Library, a branch of Alexander County Library, which serves 36,231 people and lent 72K items last year.
What Stony Point’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Alexander County Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
The Stony Point branch keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
North Carolina pays a big share
23% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Stony Point’s library is a branch of Alexander County Library, so they cover the whole system (36,231 people), not just the Stony Point branch.
What’s behind Stony Point’s civic life grade
Stony Point 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 Alexander 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 Stony Point
Stony Point is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.7%
7.7% of Stony Point’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 Stony Point’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.
Alexander County Library serves 36,231 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Alexander County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,055 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Stony Point Branch Library, 431 Ruritan Park Rd., Stony Point.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Alexander County Library branch.
New in Stony Point? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stony Point cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $691K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $691K 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 6,932 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stony Point Branch Library is one branch of Alexander County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 36,231 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 Stony Point
Does Stony Point have a public library?
Yes: Stony Point Branch Library, 431 Ruritan Park Rd., is a branch of Alexander County Library, which serves 36,231 people. The branch is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alexander 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 Stony Point’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Stony Point’s civic life grade?
Stony Point 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 Alexander County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Stony Point.
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.