Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Valdese’s library is a branch of Burke County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 74% of systems its size
Valdese’s library is the Valdese Public Library, a branch of Burke County Public Library, which serves 89,891 people and lent 242K items last year.
What Valdese’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Burke County Public Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
The Burke County Public Library system records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 1.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Valdese’s library is a branch of Burke County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (89,891 people), not just the Valdese branch.
What’s behind Valdese’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Valdese is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #111 of 234 in North Carolina. Valdese is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Valdese
2.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Valdese’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 Valdese’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.
Burke County Public Library serves 89,891 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Burke County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
242K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
70,033 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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
Valdese Public Library, 213 Saint Germain Ave SE, Valdese.
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 Burke County Public Library branch.
New in Valdese? 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 $1.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Valdese cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 12,404 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdese | Valdese Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| Rutherford College | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Drexel | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Valdese Public Library is one branch of Burke County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 89,891 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 Valdese
Does Valdese have a public library?
Yes: Valdese Public Library, 213 Saint Germain Ave SE, is a branch of Burke County Public Library, which serves 89,891 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burke 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 Valdese’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Valdese’s civic life grade?
C Valdese is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 Valdese.
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.