Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Pulaski’s library lends 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Pulaski County Library System serves 33,660 people in and around Pulaski. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 100K visits.
What stands out about Pulaski County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pulaski’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pulaski is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #16 of 88 in Virginia. Pulaski is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Pulaski
4.6 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.7%
10.7% of Pulaski’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 Pulaski’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
Pulaski County Library, 60 West Third Street, Pulaski.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pulaski County Library System branch.
New in Pulaski? 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 Pulaski 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. Pulaski County Library System serves 33,660 people in and around Pulaski, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Pulaski.
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 Pulaski
Does Pulaski have a public library?
Yes. Pulaski County Library System, 60 West Third Street, serves 33,660 people in and around Pulaski (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 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 Pulaski’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 Pulaski’s civic life grade?
A− Pulaski is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #16 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 Pulaski.
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.