Bellamy's Mill · Photo: Surfdog1993 · CC BY-SA 3.0Whitakers’ library is a branch of Braswell Memorial Public Library, which lends less per resident than 86% of systems its size
Whitakers’s library is the Whitakers Public Library, a branch of Braswell Memorial Public Library, which serves 91,931 people and lent 143K items last year.
Whitakers’s library, in brief
The Braswell Memorial Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Braswell Memorial Public Library system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $23 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 1,218 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 20 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 17 hours a week
The Whitakers branch keeps short hours: about 17 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Whitakers’s library is a branch of Braswell Memorial Public Library, so they cover the whole system (91,931 people), not just the Whitakers branch.
What’s behind Whitakers’ civic life grade
Whitakers isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Braswell Memorial Public Library serves 91,931 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Braswell Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
143K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,351 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 22 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
Whitakers Public Library, 106 W. Pippen St., Whitakers.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Braswell Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Whitakers? 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 $1.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitakers cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 43,497 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Whitakers Public Library is one branch of Braswell Memorial Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 91,931 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 Whitakers
Does Whitakers have a public library?
Yes: Whitakers Public Library, 106 W. Pippen St., is a branch of Braswell Memorial Public Library, which serves 91,931 people. The branch is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Braswell Memorial 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 Whitakers’ library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Whitakers’ civic life grade?
Whitakers isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Whitakers.
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.