Photo: PegasusRacer28 · CC BY-SA 4.0Spartanburg’s library runs 25 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Spartanburg County Public Library System serves 327,997 people in and around Spartanburg. Last year it lent 2.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 946K visits.
The short version on Spartanburg’s library
Open about 91 hours a week
The Spartanburg branch is open about 91 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Spartanburg County Public Library System ran 8,047 programs last year, about 155 a week. That’s 25 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 270,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 8,047 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 1,731 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Spartanburg County Public Library System serves 327,997 people in and around Spartanburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Spartanburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spartanburg is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #31 of 102 in South Carolina. Spartanburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Spartanburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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.
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 →
209 community nonprofits are registered in Spartanburg
5.4 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 (76 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.3%
4.3% of Spartanburg’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 Spartanburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 33 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Spartanburg County Public Library System serves 327,997 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Spartanburg County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
736,411 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Spartanburg County Public Library System, 151 S. Church Street, Spartanburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Spartanburg County Public Library System branch.
New in Spartanburg? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spartanburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $36M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 192,052 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spartanburg | Spartanburg County Public Library System fine-free | — | 91 | C+ |
| Hilltop | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Arkwright | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Drayton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ben Avon | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Saxon | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Whitney | 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.
- System-wide. Spartanburg County Public Library System serves 327,997 people in and around Spartanburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Spartanburg.
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 Spartanburg
Does Spartanburg have a public library?
Yes. Spartanburg County Public Library System, 151 S. Church Street, serves 327,997 people in and around Spartanburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 91 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spartanburg 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 Spartanburg’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Spartanburg’s civic life grade?
C+ Spartanburg is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 Spartanburg.
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.