Photo: Fife_Club (Uploads) · Public domainLake Wylie’s library is a branch of York County Library System, which lends more per resident than 56% of systems its size
Lake Wylie’s library is the Lake Wylie Public Library, a branch of York County Library System, which serves 282,090 people and lent 1.5M items last year.
What stands out about Lake Wylie Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lake Wylie’s civic life grade
Lake Wylie isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of York County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Lake Wylie
Lake Wylie is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.7%
5.7% of Lake Wylie’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 Lake Wylie’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
York County Library System serves 282,090 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole York County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
457,395 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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
Lake Wylie Public Library, 185 Blucher Circle, Lake Wylie.
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 York County Library System branch.
New in Lake Wylie? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Wylie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $23M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.1M 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 191,371 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lake Wylie Public Library is one branch of York County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 282,090 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 Wylie
Does Lake Wylie have a public library?
Yes: Lake Wylie Public Library, 185 Blucher Circle, is a branch of York County Library System, which serves 282,090 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is York County Library System 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 Lake Wylie’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lake Wylie’s civic life grade?
Lake Wylie isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of York County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lake Wylie.
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.