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Berkeley County Library: Sangaree · part of Berkeley County Library System

Sangaree’s library is a branch of Berkeley County Library System, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size

Sangaree’s library is the Berkeley County Library: Sangaree, a branch of Berkeley County Library System, which serves 229,861 people and lent 636K items last year.

595 Sangaree Parkway, Summerville 29483 · about 50 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: unincorporated places have too few inputs
Borrowed a year
636K
2.8 per resident
Visits a year
340K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,193
about 23 a week · 20K attended
Cardholders
43%
98,579 cards
Open
50 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Berkeley County Library: Sangaree

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

Civic life grade

What’s behind Sangaree’s civic life grade

Sangaree isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library is a branch of Berkeley County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Sangaree’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures

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

Visits per resident 1.5 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 74%
Borrowing per resident 2.8 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 58%
Kids’ borrowing 1.8 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 55%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Bottom 10%
Programs offered 5.2 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 82%
Cardholders 43% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 53%
Spending $19 per resident · typical $36Lower than 81%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Berkeley County Library System serves 229,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out

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

340K
visits
1.5 per resident
636K
loans, print + digital
2.8 per resident
1,193
programs & events
20K attended
99K
library cards
43% of people served
Every open hour31items borrowed
Every week394people at a program
Every day87Wi-Fi sessions
54 staff (full-time equivalent)190 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

636K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

636Kloans
Books & media (adults) 35%Kids’ books & media 65%
From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 9 kids’ programs a week

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

Schools in Sangaree →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5398
Ages 6–1194
Teens15
Adults105
All ages581
Little ones
7.7

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

411K
kids’ books & media borrowed
20K
people at programs
1,193
programs
The building

Find it

Berkeley County Library: Sangaree, 595 Sangaree Parkway, Summerville.

50
hours open a week
5,300
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Berkeley County Library System branch.

New in Sangaree? 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 $2.02 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sangaree 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
$19 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.5M.

Local taxes 89%State 11%Federal 0%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.5M 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 98,579 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.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
SangareeBerkeley County Library: Sangaree—50— unincorporated
LadsonNone 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).

How to read these numbers

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. Berkeley County Library: Sangaree is one branch of Berkeley County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 229,861 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 Sangaree

Does Sangaree have a public library?

Yes: Berkeley County Library: Sangaree, 595 Sangaree Parkway, is a branch of Berkeley County Library System, which serves 229,861 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Berkeley County Library System 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 Sangaree’s library?

It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Sangaree’s civic life grade?

Sangaree isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library is a branch of Berkeley County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Sangaree.

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.