Photo: Camb.g2g · CC BY-SA 4.0Williamston’s library is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 90% of systems its size
Williamston’s library is the Martin Memorial Library, a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which serves 60,152 people and lent 81K items last year.
The short version on Williamston’s library
The Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
North Carolina pays a big share
38% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 80% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 1,108 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Williamston’s library is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (60,152 people), not just the Williamston branch.
What’s behind Williamston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamston is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #155 of 234 in North Carolina. Williamston is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Williamston’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Williamston
3.6 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.4%
3.4% of Williamston’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 Williamston’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library serves 60,152 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
81K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,114 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
Martin Memorial Library, 200 N Smithwick St., Williamston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library branch.
New in Williamston? 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $927K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $927K 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 22,772 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Martin Memorial Library is one branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 60,152 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 Williamston
Does Williamston have a public library?
Yes: Martin Memorial Library, 200 N Smithwick St., is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which serves 60,152 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional 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 Williamston’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Williamston’s civic life grade?
C− Williamston is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #155 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 Williamston.
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.