Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Charleston’s library logs 3.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Charleston County Public Library System serves 408,235 people in and around Charleston from 6 locations. Last year it lent 3.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.3M visits.
The short version on Charleston’s library
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Charleston County Public Library System spends $90 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Six branches in Charleston
Charleston has six branches of the Charleston County Public Library System, which serves 408,235 people in and around Charleston. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Charleston County Public Library System serves 408,235 people in and around Charleston, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Charleston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Charleston is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #9 of 102 in South Carolina. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #54. Charleston is graded on two of the three inputs. Charleston’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 →
891 community nonprofits are registered in Charleston
5.8 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 (197 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 25 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Charleston’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 Charleston’s residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
3.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,662,650 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Charleston County Public Library System serves 408,235 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Charleston County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 53 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.
7 places to borrow in Charleston
Charleston County Public Library Main Library, 68 Calhoun Street, Charleston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Charleston County Public Library System branch.
New in Charleston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Charleston County Public Library System branches in Charleston
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charleston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $37M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $51M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $37M 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 202,580 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | Charleston County Public Library Main Library fine-free | — | 63 | B |
| Hollywood | St. Paul's Hollywood Library fine-free | — | 60 | A− |
| Folly Beach | Folly Beach Library fine-free | — | 25 | — too few inputs |
| North Charleston | Keith Summey North Charleston Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Mount Pleasant | Wando Mount Pleasant Library fine-free | — | 60 | B |
| Goose Creek | Berkeley County Library: Goose Creek | — | 56 | D |
| Hanahan | Berkeley County Library: Hanahan | — | 50 | D |
| James Island | None of its own | — | — | 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. Charleston County Public Library System serves 408,235 people in and around Charleston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Charleston.
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 Charleston
Does Charleston have a public library?
Yes. Charleston County Public Library System, 68 Calhoun Street, serves 408,235 people in and around Charleston (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Charleston County Public 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 Charleston’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Charleston’s civic life grade?
B Charleston is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Charleston.
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.