Photo: MattShaw9365 · CC BY-SA 3.0Wilson’s library runs 18 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Wilson County Public Library serves 78,792 people in and around Wilson from 2 locations. Last year it lent 220K books, movies and e-books and logged 123K visits.
What stands out about Wilson County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Wilson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wilson is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #105 of 234 in North Carolina. Wilson is graded on two of the three inputs. Wilson’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$66K) 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 →
241 community nonprofits are registered in Wilson
5.0 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 (83 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Wilson’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 Wilson’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.
Wilson County Public Library serves 78,792 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wilson County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
220K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 13 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.
2 places to borrow in Wilson
Wilson County Public Library, 249 Nash St. W, Wilson.
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 Wilson County Public Library branch.
New in Wilson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Wilson County Public Library branches in Wilson
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wilson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 16,938 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Wilson County Public Library serves 78,792 people in and around Wilson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wilson.
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 Wilson
Does Wilson have a public library?
Yes. Wilson County Public Library, 249 Nash St. W, serves 78,792 people in and around Wilson (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wilson 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 Wilson’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Wilson’s civic life grade?
C Wilson is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #105 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 Wilson.
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.