Sumter County Courthouse · Photo: The original uploader was Pollinator at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Sumter’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Sumter County Public Library System serves 105,556 people in and around Sumter from 3 locations. Last year it lent 109K print books and media and logged 96K visits.
Sumter’s library, in brief
Sumter County Public Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Sumter County Public Library System records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sumter County Public Library System offered 255 programs last year, 2.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sumter County Public Library System spends $14 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
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; Sumter County Public Library System serves 105,556 people in and around Sumter, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sumter’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sumter is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #35 of 102 in South Carolina. Sumter is graded on two of the three inputs. Sumter’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 ($42K–$69K) 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 →
237 community nonprofits are registered in Sumter
5.5 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 (99 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Sumter’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 Sumter’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sumter County Public Library System serves 105,556 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sumter County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
109K 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.
255 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
3 places to borrow in Sumter
Sumter County Public Library, 111 N. Harvin Street, Sumter.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sumter County Public Library System branch.
New in Sumter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sumter County Public Library System branches in Sumter
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sumter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 49,506 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumter | Sumter County Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | C |
| South Sumter | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Mulberry | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| East Sumter | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lakewood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cherryvale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cane Savannah | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Oakland | 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. Sumter County Public Library System serves 105,556 people in and around Sumter, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sumter.
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 Sumter
Does Sumter have a public library?
Yes. Sumter County Public Library System, 111 N. Harvin Street, serves 105,556 people in and around Sumter (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sumter 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 Sumter’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sumter’s civic life grade?
C Sumter is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 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 Sumter.
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.