Photo: BeaufortTiger of English Wikipedia · Public domainBeaufort’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Beaufort County Library serves 187,117 people in and around Beaufort. Last year it lent 881K books, movies and e-books and logged 373K visits.
What’s behind Beaufort’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Beaufort is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #8 of 102 in South Carolina. Beaufort is graded on two of the three inputs. Beaufort’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
122 community nonprofits are registered in Beaufort
8.9 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 (32 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Beaufort’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 Beaufort’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.
Beaufort County Library serves 187,117 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 85 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Beaufort County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
881K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
256,742 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.
Find it
Beaufort County Library, 311 Scott Street, Beaufort.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Beaufort County Library branch.
New in Beaufort? 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 $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beaufort cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.5M 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 105,872 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaufort | Beaufort County Library | — | 38 | B+ |
| Burton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Port Royal | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Laurel Bay | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Seabrook | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Beaufort County Library serves 187,117 people in and around Beaufort, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Beaufort.
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 Beaufort
Does Beaufort have a public library?
Yes. Beaufort County Library, 311 Scott Street, serves 187,117 people in and around Beaufort (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaufort County 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 Beaufort’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Beaufort’s civic life grade?
B+ Beaufort is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Beaufort.
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.