Bethabara Historic District · Photo: Barber Photo Supply Company, Photographer · Public domainWinston-Salem’s library logs 3.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Forsyth County Public Library serves 392,839 people in and around Winston-Salem from 5 locations. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.2M visits.
Winston-Salem’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
348,442 cards for 392,839 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 4,131 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 1,658 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Five branches in Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem has five branches of the Forsyth County Public Library, which serves 392,839 people in and around Winston-Salem. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Forsyth County Public Library serves 392,839 people in and around Winston-Salem, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Winston-Salem’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Winston-Salem is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #123 of 234 in North Carolina. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #193. Winston-Salem is graded on two of the three inputs. Winston-Salem’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 ($44K–$74K) 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 →
1,050 community nonprofits are registered in Winston-Salem
4.2 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 (336 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 47 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Winston-Salem’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 Winston-Salem’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.
Forsyth County Public Library serves 392,839 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Forsyth County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
640,881 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 32 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.
5 places to borrow in Winston-Salem
Forsyth County Public Library, 660 W 5th St., Winston-Salem.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Forsyth County Public Library branch.
New in Winston-Salem? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Forsyth County Public Library branches in Winston-Salem
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winston-Salem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.9M 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 348,442 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston-Salem | Forsyth County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Walkertown | Walkertown Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | D |
| Kernersville | Paddison Memorial Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Rural Hall | Rural Hall Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | D |
| Clemmons | Clemmons Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Tobaccoville | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Midway | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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. Forsyth County Public Library serves 392,839 people in and around Winston-Salem, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Winston-Salem.
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 Winston-Salem
Does Winston-Salem have a public library?
Yes. Forsyth County Public Library, 660 W 5th St., serves 392,839 people in and around Winston-Salem (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Forsyth 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 Winston-Salem’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Winston-Salem’s civic life grade?
C− Winston-Salem is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #123 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 Winston-Salem.
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.