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Faith Cabin Library at Anderson County Training SchoolFaith Cabin Library at Anderson County Training School · Photo: KudzuVine · CC BY-SA 3.0
Pendleton Branch Library · part of Anderson County Library

Pendleton’s library is a branch of Anderson County Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size

Pendleton’s library is the Pendleton Branch Library, a branch of Anderson County Library, which serves 203,718 people and lent 777K items last year.

650 South Mechanic Street, Pendleton 29670 · about 48 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 37% of U.S. towns · #30 of 102 in South Carolina. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (864) 646-3923 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
777K
3.8 per resident
Visits a year
333K
1.6 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,379
about 27 a week · 25K attended
Cardholders
56%
114,499 cards
Open
48 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Pendleton Branch Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Fine-freePart of a bigger system
Civic life grade

What’s behind Pendleton’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pendleton is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #30 of 102 in South Carolina. Pendleton is graded on two of the three inputs. Pendleton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Pendleton’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureBCommunity nonprofits4.3 per 1,000 residents · SC towns 3.1 · U.S. 3.7CVolunteering5.9% of adults 25–44 · SC towns 4.4% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 37%
FewerMore
South Carolina towns we grade (102)Ahead of 71%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $46K–$77K (8,072)Ahead of 34%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Pendleton is small (3,739 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

16 community nonprofits are registered in Pendleton

4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation30.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans30.92 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services30.83 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education20.42 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

5.9%

5.9% of Pendleton’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 Pendleton’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.6 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 69%
Borrowing per resident 2.3 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 67%
Digital borrowing 1.5 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 53%
Kids’ borrowing 1.1 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 69%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 82%
Programs offered 6.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 68%
Cardholders 56% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 75%
Spending $33 per resident · typical $36Lower than 54%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Anderson County Library serves 203,718 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Anderson County Library system. The library’s own count.

333K
visits
1.6 per resident
777K
loans, print + digital
3.8 per resident
1,379
programs & events
25K attended
114K
library cards
56% of people served
Every open hour37items borrowed
Every week489people at a program
Every day68Wi-Fi sessions
77 staff (full-time equivalent)78 public computers
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

777K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

777Kloans
Books & media (adults) 33%Kids’ books & media 28%E-books, audio & streaming 39%
From your couch

304,722 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 15 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Pendleton →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5495
Ages 6–11280
Teens138
Adults437
All ages29
Little ones
9.5

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

219K
kids’ books & media borrowed
25K
people at programs
1,379
programs
The building

Find it

Pendleton Branch Library, 650 South Mechanic Street, Pendleton.

Directions(864) 646-3923
48
hours open a week
12,000
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Anderson County Library branch.

New in Pendleton? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.74 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pendleton cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$33 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.8M.

Local taxes 92%State 7%Federal 0%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.8M 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 114,499 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

Clemson: no library of its ownLa France: no library of its ownClemsonLa FrancePendleton
12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
PendletonPendleton Branch Library fine-free—48C+
ClemsonNone of its own——B+
La FranceNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Pendleton Branch Library is one branch of Anderson County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 203,718 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 Pendleton

Does Pendleton have a public library?

Yes: Pendleton Branch Library, 650 South Mechanic Street, is a branch of Anderson County Library, which serves 203,718 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Anderson County Library 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 Pendleton’s library?

It logged 1.6 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Pendleton’s civic life grade?

C+ Pendleton is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #30 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 Pendleton.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.