Photo: DwayneP at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Dublin’s library is a branch of Pulaski County Library System, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Dublin’s library is the Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library, a branch of Pulaski County Library System, which serves 33,660 people and lent 57K items last year.
What stands out about Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Dublin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dublin is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #61 of 88 in Virginia. Dublin is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Dublin’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Dublin
2.1 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Dublin’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 Dublin’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.
Pulaski County Library System serves 33,660 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pulaski County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,146 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library, 300 Giles Avenue, Dublin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pulaski County Library System branch.
New in Dublin? 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 $1.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dublin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $927K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $927K 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 1,876 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library is one branch of Pulaski County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 33,660 people it serves.
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 Dublin
Does Dublin have a public library?
Yes: Charles & Ona B. Free Memorial Library, 300 Giles Avenue, is a branch of Pulaski County Library System, which serves 33,660 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pulaski County 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 Dublin’s library?
It logged 3.0 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 Dublin’s civic life grade?
C+ Dublin is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #61 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 Dublin.
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.