North Market Street Historic District · Photo: Tradewinds · CC BY-SA 3.0Washington’s library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
George H. and Laura E. Brown Public Library serves Washington’s 9,705 residents. Last year it lent 74K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
The short version on Washington’s library
A place to get online
George H. and Laura E. Brown Public Library logs about 349 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 15 public computers. That’s 13 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Washington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Washington is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #33 of 234 in North Carolina. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in Washington
5.5 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.9%
3.9% of Washington’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 Washington’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
74K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
24,615 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
George H. and Laura E. Brown Public Library serves 9,705 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Washington last year.
2 places to borrow in Washington
George H. and Laura E. Brown Public Library, 122 Van Norden St., Washington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Washington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Washington
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Washington resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $726K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $726K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 9,705 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Washington
Does Washington have a public library?
Yes. George H. and Laura E. Brown Public Library, 122 Van Norden St., serves Washington’s 9,705 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is George H. and Laura E. Brown Public 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 Washington’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 7.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Washington’s civic life grade?
B Washington is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 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 Washington.
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.