Downtown Hopewell Historic District (Boundary Increase) · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHopewell’s library is a branch of Appomattox Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 66% of systems its size
Hopewell’s library is the Maude Langhorne Nelson Library, a branch of Appomattox Regional Library System, which serves 94,174 people and lent 546K items last year.
What Hopewell’s library is like
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans, more per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
Virginia pays a big share
26% 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; Hopewell’s library is a branch of Appomattox Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (94,174 people), not just the Hopewell branch.
What’s behind Hopewell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hopewell is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #79 of 88 in Virginia. Hopewell is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hopewell’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Hopewell
3.4 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Hopewell’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 Hopewell’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
546K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
309,283 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Appomattox Regional Library System serves 94,174 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Appomattox Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 15 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
Maude Langhorne Nelson Library, 209 E. Cawson Street, Hopewell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Appomattox Regional Library System branch.
New in Hopewell? 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 $3.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hopewell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 4,669 cardholders ÷ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hopewell | Maude Langhorne Nelson Library fine-free | — | 62 | C− |
| Enon | Enon Library | — | 60 | — 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.
- System-wide. Maude Langhorne Nelson Library is one branch of Appomattox Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 94,174 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 Hopewell
Does Hopewell have a public library?
Yes: Maude Langhorne Nelson Library, 209 E. Cawson Street, is a branch of Appomattox Regional Library System, which serves 94,174 people. The branch is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Appomattox Regional 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 Hopewell’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hopewell’s civic life grade?
C− Hopewell is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #79 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 Hopewell.
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.