Town of Halifax Court House Historic District · Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Halifax’s library runs 6.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Halifax County-South Boston Library System serves 33,704 people in and around Halifax. Last year it lent 97K print books and media and logged 54K visits.
Halifax’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Halifax County-South Boston Library System sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Halifax County-South Boston Library System offered 210 programs last year, 6.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Virginia pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 75% 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; Halifax County-South Boston Library System serves 33,704 people in and around Halifax, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Halifax’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Halifax is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. Halifax is graded on two of the three inputs. Halifax’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Halifax
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Halifax’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 Halifax’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Halifax County-South Boston Library System serves 33,704 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Halifax County-South Boston Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
97K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Halifax County Library, 177 South Main St., Halifax.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Halifax County-South Boston Library System branch.
New in Halifax? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Halifax resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $630K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $630K 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 33,704 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | Halifax County Library | — | 49 | C+ |
| Mountain Road | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Halifax County-South Boston Library System serves 33,704 people in and around Halifax, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Halifax.
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 Halifax
Does Halifax have a public library?
Yes. Halifax County-South Boston Library System, 177 South Main St., serves 33,704 people in and around Halifax (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Halifax County-South Boston Library System 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 Halifax’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Halifax’s civic life grade?
C+ Halifax is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Halifax.
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.