Upper Long Cane Cemetery · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Abbeville’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Abbeville County Library System serves 24,295 people in and around Abbeville. Last year it lent 28K print books and media and logged 37K visits.
Abbeville’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Abbeville County Library System sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
South Carolina pays a big share
35% of the budget comes from the state, and 54% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Abbeville County Library System serves 24,295 people in and around Abbeville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Abbeville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Abbeville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #44 of 102 in South Carolina. Abbeville is graded on two of the three inputs. Abbeville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Abbeville County Library System spends $17 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$51K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Abbeville
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Abbeville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical South 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 Abbeville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Abbeville County Library System serves 24,295 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Abbeville County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
28K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Abbeville County Library, 1407 North Main Street, Abbeville.
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 Abbeville County Library System branch.
New in Abbeville? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Abbeville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $416K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $727K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $416K 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 5,972 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Abbeville County Library System serves 24,295 people in and around Abbeville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Abbeville.
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 Abbeville
Does Abbeville have a public library?
Yes. Abbeville County Library System, 1407 North Main Street, serves 24,295 people in and around Abbeville (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Abbeville County Library System 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 Abbeville’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Abbeville’s civic life grade?
C− Abbeville is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 of 102 in South 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 Abbeville.
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.