Thorntree · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Kingstree’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Williamsburg County Library System serves 31,026 people in and around Kingstree. Last year it lent 22K print books and media and logged 25K visits.
What Kingstree’s library is like
Williamsburg County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Williamsburg County Library System records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
South Carolina pays a big share
21% of the budget comes from the state, and 74% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Williamsburg County Library System serves 31,026 people in and around Kingstree, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kingstree’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kingstree is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #32 of 102 in South Carolina. Kingstree is graded on two of the three inputs. Kingstree’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($20K–$33K) it does better, ahead of 69%.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Kingstree
6.6 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
1.4%
1.4% of Kingstree’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 Kingstree’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Williamsburg County Library System serves 31,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Williamsburg County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
22K 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 3 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
Williamsburg County Library, 215 North Jackson Street, Kingstree.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Williamsburg County Library System branch.
New in Kingstree? 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 Kingstree cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $613K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $452K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $613K 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 12,527 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. Williamsburg County Library System serves 31,026 people in and around Kingstree, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kingstree.
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 Kingstree
Does Kingstree have a public library?
Yes. Williamsburg County Library System, 215 North Jackson Street, serves 31,026 people in and around Kingstree (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamsburg 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 Kingstree’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kingstree’s civic life grade?
C+ Kingstree is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #32 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 Kingstree.
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.