Photo: Bernardgeorgeh · CC BY-SA 4.0Pelion’s library is a branch of Lexington County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 63% of systems its size
Pelion’s library is the Pelion Branch Library, a branch of Lexington County Public Library System, which serves 293,991 people and lent 1.6M items last year.
What stands out about Pelion Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pelion’s civic life grade
Pelion 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lexington County Public Library System serves 293,991 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 51 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lexington County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
411,645 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 55 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
Pelion Branch Library, 206 Pine Street, Pelion.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lexington County Public Library System branch.
New in Pelion? 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 $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pelion cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.8M 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 103,097 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Pelion Branch Library is one branch of Lexington County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 293,991 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 Pelion
Does Pelion have a public library?
Yes: Pelion Branch Library, 206 Pine Street, is a branch of Lexington County Public Library System, which serves 293,991 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lexington County Public 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 Pelion’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Pelion’s civic life grade?
Pelion 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 Pelion.
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.