Photo: Tiled · CC BY-SA 3.0Greer’s library is a branch of Greenville County Library System, which lends more per resident than 75% of systems its size
Greer’s library is the Greer Branch, a branch of Greenville County Library System, which serves 525,534 people and lent 4M items last year.
Greer’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 64 hours a week
The Greer branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Greer’s library is a branch of Greenville County Library System, so they cover the whole system (525,534 people), not just the Greer branch.
What’s behind Greer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greer is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #80 of 102 in South Carolina. Greer is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Greer’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$103K) 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 →
90 community nonprofits are registered in Greer
2.2 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 (53 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.7%
4.7% of Greer’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 Greer’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.
Find it
Greer Branch, 505 Pennsylvania Ave., Greer.
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 Greer? 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 $3.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greer 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.
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. Greer Branch is one branch of Greenville County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 525,534 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 Greer
Does Greer have a public library?
Yes: Greer Branch, 505 Pennsylvania Ave., is a branch of Greenville County Library System, which serves 525,534 people. The branch is open about 64 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 Greer’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 Greer’s civic life grade?
D Greer is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Greer.
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.