Photo: Laura Blankenship · CC BY-SA 2.0Litchfield Beach’s library is a branch of Georgetown County Library, which lends less per resident than 68% of systems its size
Litchfield Beach’s library is the Waccamaw Branch Library, a branch of Georgetown County Library, which serves 63,404 people and lent 150K items last year.
What stands out about Waccamaw Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Litchfield Beach’s civic life grade
Litchfield Beach 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 Georgetown County Library, 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 Litchfield Beach
Litchfield Beach is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
8.3%
8.3% of Litchfield Beach’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 Litchfield Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Georgetown County Library serves 63,404 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Georgetown County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
150K 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 15 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
Waccamaw Branch Library, 24 Commerce Drive, Pawley's Island.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Georgetown County Library branch.
New in Litchfield Beach? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Litchfield Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 36,793 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. Waccamaw Branch Library is one branch of Georgetown County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 63,404 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 Litchfield Beach
Does Litchfield Beach have a public library?
Yes: Waccamaw Branch Library, 24 Commerce Drive, is a branch of Georgetown County Library, which serves 63,404 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Georgetown County Library 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 Litchfield Beach’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Litchfield Beach’s civic life grade?
Litchfield Beach 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 Georgetown County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Litchfield Beach.
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.