Catholic Presbyterian Church · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0Great Falls’ library is a branch of Chester County Library, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
Great Falls’s library is the Great Falls Branch Library, a branch of Chester County Library, which serves 32,294 people and lent 56K items last year.
What stands out about Great Falls Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Great Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Great Falls is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns. Great Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Great Falls’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($23K–$38K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Great Falls
3.7 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
1.8%
1.8% of Great Falls’ 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 Great Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Chester County Library serves 32,294 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 Chester County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
56K 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 9 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
Great Falls Branch Library, 39 Calhoun Street, Great Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chester County Library branch.
New in Great Falls? 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 Great Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $903K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 15,442 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. Great Falls Branch Library is one branch of Chester County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 32,294 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 Great Falls
Does Great Falls have a public library?
Yes: Great Falls Branch Library, 39 Calhoun Street, is a branch of Chester County Library, which serves 32,294 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chester County Library 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 Great Falls’ library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Great Falls’ civic life grade?
D Great Falls is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Great Falls.
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.