Photo: Raventsaid · CC BY-SA 3.0Whiteville’s library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Lee Ola Roberts Library serves 4,559 people in and around Whiteville. Last year it lent 4,675 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,858 visits.
The short version on Whiteville’s library
People visit, but borrow less than most
Lee Ola Roberts Library lends 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, fewer than 93% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Lee Ola Roberts Library logs about 135 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 12 public computers. That’s 11 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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.
What’s behind Whiteville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whiteville is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #144 of 150 in Tennessee. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Lee Ola Roberts Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Whiteville
0.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.3%
4.3% of Whiteville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Whiteville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lee Ola Roberts Library serves 4,559 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,675 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,328 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
119 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Lee Ola Roberts Library, 140 W. Main St., Whiteville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whiteville? 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 $3.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whiteville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $73K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $239K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $73K 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 3,090 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Whiteville
Does Whiteville have a public library?
Yes. Lee Ola Roberts Library, 140 W. Main St., serves 4,559 people in and around Whiteville (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lee Ola Roberts Library 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 Whiteville’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Whiteville’s civic life grade?
D− Whiteville is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #144 of 150 in Tennessee. 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 Whiteville.
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.