Photo: NCDOTcommunications · CC BY 2.0Wilmington’s library is a branch of New Hanover County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 62% of systems its size
Wilmington’s library is the Main Library, a branch of New Hanover County Public Library, which serves 239,514 people and lent 1.4M items last year.
What stands out about Main Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Wilmington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilmington is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #9 of 234 in North Carolina. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #8. Wilmington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Wilmington’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
688 community nonprofits are registered in Wilmington
5.7 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 (162 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.9%
9.9% of Wilmington’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 Wilmington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
New Hanover County Public Library serves 239,514 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole New Hanover County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
422,147 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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.
3 places to borrow in Wilmington
Main Library, 201 Chestnut St., Wilmington.
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 New Hanover County Public Library branch.
New in Wilmington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other New Hanover County Public Library branches in Wilmington
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilmington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $21M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.8M 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 113,718 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | Main Library fine-free | — | 54 | A |
| Hightsville | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Silver Lake | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Wrightsboro | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Kings Grant | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ogden | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Murraysville | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Myrtle Grove | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Main Library is one branch of New Hanover County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 239,514 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 Wilmington
Does Wilmington have a public library?
Yes: Main Library, 201 Chestnut St., is a branch of New Hanover County Public Library, which serves 239,514 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is New Hanover 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 Wilmington’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Wilmington’s civic life grade?
A Wilmington is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Wilmington.
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.