Carolina Forest’s library is a branch of Horry County Memorial Library, which lends less per resident than 65% of systems its size
Carolina Forest’s library is the Carolina Forest Library, a branch of Horry County Memorial Library, which serves 351,029 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What stands out about Carolina Forest Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Carolina Forest’s civic life grade
Carolina Forest isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Horry County Memorial Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Carolina Forest
Carolina Forest is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.7%
6.7% of Carolina Forest’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 Carolina Forest’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Horry County Memorial Library serves 351,029 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Horry County Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
313,164 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 43 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
Carolina Forest Library, 2250 Carolina Forest Blvd, Myrtle Beach.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Horry County Memorial Library branch.
New in Carolina Forest? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carolina Forest cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.5M 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 143,025 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Forest | Carolina Forest Library | — | 57 | — unincorporated |
| Conway | Conway Library | — | 66 | 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. Carolina Forest Library is one branch of Horry County Memorial Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 351,029 people it serves.
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 Forest
Does Carolina Forest have a public library?
Yes: Carolina Forest Library, 2250 Carolina Forest Blvd, is a branch of Horry County Memorial Library, which serves 351,029 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Horry County 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 Forest’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Carolina Forest’s civic life grade?
Carolina Forest isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Horry County Memorial Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Carolina Forest.
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.