Photo: JayeeDior12 · CC BY-SA 3.0Orangeburg’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Orangeburg County Library Commission serves 84,223 people in and around Orangeburg. Last year it lent 114K print books and media and logged 150K visits.
What stands out about Orangeburg County Library Commission
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Orangeburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orangeburg is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #20 of 102 in South Carolina. Orangeburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Orangeburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
111 community nonprofits are registered in Orangeburg
8.4 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 (38 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.4%
2.4% of Orangeburg’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 Orangeburg’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.
Orangeburg County Library Commission serves 84,223 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Orangeburg County Library Commission system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
114K 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 4 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
Orangeburg County Library Commission, 1645 Russell Street, Orangeburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Orangeburg County Library Commission branch.
New in Orangeburg? 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 Orangeburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 53,745 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orangeburg | Orangeburg County Library Commission | — | 41 | C+ |
| Edisto | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Wilkinson Heights | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Brookdale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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. Orangeburg County Library Commission serves 84,223 people in and around Orangeburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Orangeburg.
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 Orangeburg
Does Orangeburg have a public library?
Yes. Orangeburg County Library Commission, 1645 Russell Street, serves 84,223 people in and around Orangeburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orangeburg County Library Commission 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 Orangeburg’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Orangeburg’s civic life grade?
C+ Orangeburg is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Orangeburg.
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.