Photo: Us Census bureau · Public domainCharles City’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Heritage Public Library serves 30,260 people in and around Charles City. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
Charles City’s library, in brief
Heritage Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Heritage Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Virginia pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 74% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Heritage Public Library serves 30,260 people in and around Charles City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Charles City’s civic life grade
Charles City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Heritage Public Library serves 30,260 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Heritage Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,959 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Heritage Public Library, 10780 Courthouse Road, Charles City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Heritage Public Library branch.
New in Charles City? 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 $1.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Charles City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $520K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $815K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $520K 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 2,803 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Heritage Public Library serves 30,260 people in and around Charles City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Charles City.
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 Charles City
Does Charles City have a public library?
Yes. Heritage Public Library, 10780 Courthouse Road, serves 30,260 people in and around Charles City (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Heritage 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 Charles City’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Charles City’s civic life grade?
Charles City isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Charles City.
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.