Photo: Jennifer · CC BY-SA 4.0Carolina’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clark Memorial Library serves 8,020 people in and around Carolina. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Carolina’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 56%. What your card is worth ↓
Clark Memorial Library serves more than Carolina
The library’s service area covers 8,020 people in and around Carolina, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 175 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 43 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Carolina’s civic life grade
Carolina 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clark Memorial Library serves 8,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
10,288 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
175 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Clark Memorial Library, 7 Pinehurst Drive, Richmond.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Carolina? 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 $3.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carolina cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $166K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $569K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $166K 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 1,600 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Carolina ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlestown | Cross' Mills Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 42 | A− |
| Carolina | Clark Memorial Library | 4.6 | 37 | — graded as part of its town |
| Richmond | Clark Memorial Library | 4.6 | 37 | B− |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Carolina
Does Carolina have a public library?
Yes. Clark Memorial Library, 7 Pinehurst Drive, serves 8,020 people in and around Carolina (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clark Memorial 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 Carolina’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Carolina’s civic life grade?
Carolina 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 Carolina.
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.