Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Sandston’s library is a branch of Henrico County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 86% of systems its size
Sandston’s library is the Sandston Branch Library, a branch of Henrico County Public Library, which serves 336,226 people and lent 3.6M items last year.
Sandston’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Henrico County Public Library system logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. 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; Sandston’s library is a branch of Henrico County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (336,226 people), not just the Sandston branch.
What’s behind Sandston’s civic life grade
Sandston isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Henrico County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Sandston
Sandston is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.1%
5.1% of Sandston’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 Sandston’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 104 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Henrico County Public Library 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Henrico County Public Library serves 336,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,170,967 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 52 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
Sandston Branch Library, 23 E. Williamsburg Road, Sandston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Henrico County Public Library branch.
New in Sandston? 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 $2.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sandston resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $23M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $66M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23M 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 336,226 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandston | Sandston Branch Library | — | 57 | — unincorporated |
| Montrose | 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.
- System-wide. Sandston Branch Library is one branch of Henrico County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 336,226 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 Sandston
Does Sandston have a public library?
Yes: Sandston Branch Library, 23 E. Williamsburg Road, is a branch of Henrico County Public Library, which serves 336,226 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Henrico County 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 Sandston’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sandston’s civic life grade?
Sandston isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Henrico County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sandston.
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.