Photo: CantoV · CC BY-SA 4.0Greenville’s library lends 5.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Greenville County Library System serves 525,534 people in and around Greenville from 2 locations. Last year it lent 4M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.3M visits.
Greenville’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 2,853 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 31 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The Greenville branch is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Greenville County Library System serves 525,534 people in and around Greenville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Greenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenville is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #13 of 102 in South Carolina. Greenville is graded on two of the three inputs. Greenville’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 →
595 community nonprofits are registered in Greenville
8.2 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 (181 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 34 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Greenville’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 Greenville’s residents live; 2022.
About 41 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Greenville County Library System serves 525,534 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 99 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greenville County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,085,982 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Greenville
Greenville County Library: Hughes Library, 25 Heritage Green Place, Greenville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Greenville County Library System branch.
New in Greenville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Greenville County Library System branches in Greenville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 191,483 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | Greenville County Library: Hughes Library | — | 68 | B |
| Mauldin | Mauldin Branch | — | 64 | D |
| Gantt | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Wade Hampton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Parker | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Dunean | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| City View | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Conestee | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Judson | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sans Souci | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Greenville County Library System serves 525,534 people in and around Greenville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greenville.
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 Greenville
Does Greenville have a public library?
Yes. Greenville County Library System, 25 Heritage Green Place, serves 525,534 people in and around Greenville (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenville 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 Greenville’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Greenville’s civic life grade?
B Greenville is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Greenville.
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.