Appin (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Bennettsville’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Marlboro County Library System serves 26,667 people in and around Bennettsville. Last year it lent 19K print books and media and logged 35K visits.
The short version on Bennettsville’s library
Marlboro County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Marlboro County Library System records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
South Carolina pays a big share
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 73% 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; Marlboro County Library System serves 26,667 people in and around Bennettsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bennettsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bennettsville is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #79 of 102 in South Carolina. Bennettsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bennettsville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Marlboro County Library System spends $22 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$46K) 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Bennettsville
2.7 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.9%
2.9% of Bennettsville’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 Bennettsville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marlboro County Library System serves 26,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marlboro County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
19K 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 1 kids’ program 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
Marlboro County Library System, 203 Fayetteville Avenue, Bennettsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marlboro County Library System branch.
New in Bennettsville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bennettsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $575K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $398K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $575K 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 9,830 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. Marlboro County Library System serves 26,667 people in and around Bennettsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bennettsville.
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 Bennettsville
Does Bennettsville have a public library?
Yes. Marlboro County Library System, 203 Fayetteville Avenue, serves 26,667 people in and around Bennettsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marlboro County Library System 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 Bennettsville’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 0.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bennettsville’s civic life grade?
D Bennettsville is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 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 Bennettsville.
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.