Photo: Gerry D · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake View’s library is a branch of Dillon County Library System, which lends less per resident than 83% of systems its size
Lake View’s library is the Sadie Carmichael Branch Library (Lake View), a branch of Dillon County Library System, which serves 28,292 people and lent 47K items last year.
What Lake View’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 440 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
24,654 cards for 28,292 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
South Carolina pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 79% 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; Lake View’s library is a branch of Dillon County Library System, so they cover the whole system (28,292 people), not just the Lake View branch.
What’s behind Lake View’s civic life grade
Lake View isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dillon County Library System serves 28,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dillon County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,197 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Sadie Carmichael Branch Library (Lake View), 207 S. Main Street, Lake View.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dillon County Library System branch.
New in Lake View? 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 $1.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake View cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $627K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $826K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $627K 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 24,654 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sadie Carmichael Branch Library (Lake View) is one branch of Dillon County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 28,292 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 Lake View
Does Lake View have a public library?
Yes: Sadie Carmichael Branch Library (Lake View), 207 S. Main Street, is a branch of Dillon County Library System, which serves 28,292 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dillon 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 Lake View’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lake View’s civic life grade?
Lake View isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lake View.
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.