Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Folly Beach’s library is a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 62% of systems its size
Folly Beach’s library is the Folly Beach Library, a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, which serves 408,235 people and lent 3.3M items last year.
What Folly Beach’s library is like
Most of the system’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
The 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 ↓
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; Folly Beach’s library is a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (408,235 people), not just the Folly Beach branch.
What’s behind Folly Beach’s civic life grade
Folly Beach isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Folly Beach
15.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
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.
Find it
Folly Beach Library, 55 Center Street, Folly Beach.
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 Folly Beach? 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 $1.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Folly Beach 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folly Beach | Folly Beach Library fine-free | — | 25 | — too few inputs |
| Charleston | Charleston County Public Library Main Library fine-free | — | 63 | B |
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. Folly Beach Library is one branch of Charleston County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 408,235 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 Folly Beach
Does Folly Beach have a public library?
Yes: Folly Beach Library, 55 Center Street, is a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, which serves 408,235 people. The branch is open about 25 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 Folly Beach’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 Folly Beach’s civic life grade?
Folly Beach isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Charleston County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Folly Beach.
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.