Photo: R. Rothenberger · CC BY 3.0Lumberton’s library runs 9.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lumberton Public Library serves 22,406 people in and around Lumberton. Last year it lent 72K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What’s behind Lumberton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lumberton is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #40 of 539 in Texas. Lumberton is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lumberton’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Lumberton
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
17.7%
17.7% of Lumberton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Lumberton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lumberton Public Library serves 22,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lumberton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,722 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Lumberton Public Library, 130 E Chance Rd, Lumberton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lumberton Public Library branch.
New in Lumberton? 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 $3.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lumberton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $316K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $316K 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 11,898 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lumberton Public Library serves 22,406 people in and around Lumberton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lumberton.
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 Lumberton
Does Lumberton have a public library?
Yes. Lumberton Public Library, 130 E Chance Rd, serves 22,406 people in and around Lumberton (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lumberton Public 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 Lumberton’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lumberton’s civic life grade?
A− Lumberton is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 of 539 in Texas. 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 Lumberton.
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.