Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0Culpeper’s library runs 5.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Culpeper County Library serves 53,097 people in and around Culpeper. Last year it lent 286K books, movies and e-books and logged 123K visits.
Culpeper’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Culpeper County Library offered 286 programs last year, 5.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 286 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 ↓
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; Culpeper County Library serves 53,097 people in and around Culpeper, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Culpeper’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Culpeper is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #21 of 88 in Virginia. Culpeper is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Culpeper’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
136 community nonprofits are registered in Culpeper
6.5 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 (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Culpeper’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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 Culpeper’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Culpeper County Library serves 53,097 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 115 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Culpeper County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
286K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,420 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
Culpeper County Library, 271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Culpeper County Library branch.
New in Culpeper? 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 $3.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Culpeper cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 4,793 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Culpeper County Library serves 53,097 people in and around Culpeper, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Culpeper.
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 Culpeper
Does Culpeper have a public library?
Yes. Culpeper County Library, 271 Southgate Shopping Center, serves 53,097 people in and around Culpeper (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Culpeper County Library 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 Culpeper’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Culpeper’s civic life grade?
A− Culpeper is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #21 of 88 in Virginia. 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 Culpeper.
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.