Liberty Colored High School · Photo: KudzuVine · Public domainLiberty’s library is a branch of Pickens County Library System, which lends less per resident than 63% of systems its size
Liberty’s library is the Sarlin Community Branch, a branch of Pickens County Library System, which serves 131,404 people and lent 335K items last year.
What stands out about Sarlin Community Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Liberty’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Liberty is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #94 of 102 in South Carolina. Liberty is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Liberty’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Liberty
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.2%
4.2% of Liberty’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 Liberty’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pickens County Library System serves 131,404 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pickens County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
335K 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 13 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
Sarlin Community Branch, 15 South Palmetto Street, Liberty.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pickens County Library System branch.
New in Liberty? 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Liberty cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.7M 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 112,487 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. Sarlin Community Branch is one branch of Pickens County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 131,404 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 Liberty
Does Liberty have a public library?
Yes: Sarlin Community Branch, 15 South Palmetto Street, is a branch of Pickens County Library System, which serves 131,404 people. The branch is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pickens 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 Liberty’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Liberty’s civic life grade?
D− Liberty is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 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 Liberty.
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.