Carter Glass House · Photo: Richard Cheek, Photographer · Public domainLynchburg’s library runs 3.1 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Lynchburg Public Library serves Lynchburg’s 80,054 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 324K books, movies and e-books and logged 150K visits.
What Lynchburg’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Lynchburg Public Library offered 250 programs last year, 3.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 250 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Lynchburg Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 51% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Lynchburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lynchburg is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #57 of 88 in Virginia. Lynchburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
421 community nonprofits are registered in Lynchburg
5.3 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 (148 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Lynchburg’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 Lynchburg’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Lynchburg Public Library serves 80,054 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 62 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
324K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 70K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.2 times last year, on average.
98,624 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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lynchburg last year.
2 places to borrow in Lynchburg
Lynchburg Public Library, 2315 Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lynchburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Lynchburg
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lynchburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 6,009 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynchburg | Lynchburg Public Library | 4.0 | 52 | B− |
| Timberlake | Timbrook Library | — | 44 | — unincorporated |
| Madison Heights | Madison Heights Library fine-free | — | 46 | — unincorporated |
| Forest | Forest Library | — | 57 | — 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Lynchburg Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Lynchburg
Does Lynchburg have a public library?
Yes. Lynchburg Public Library, 2315 Memorial Avenue, serves Lynchburg’s 80,054 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lynchburg 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 Lynchburg’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lynchburg’s civic life grade?
B− Lynchburg is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 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 Lynchburg.
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.