Photo: Ron Cogswell · CC BY 2.0Williamsburg’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Williamsburg Regional Library serves 94,582 people in and around Williamsburg. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 540K visits.
The short version on Williamsburg’s library
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Williamsburg Regional Library ran 4,113 programs last year, about 79 a week. That’s 43 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 101,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Williamsburg Regional Library logs 5.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Williamsburg branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
A well-funded system
Williamsburg Regional Library spends $85 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. 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; Williamsburg Regional Library serves 94,582 people in and around Williamsburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Williamsburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Williamsburg is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #27 of 88 in Virginia. Williamsburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Williamsburg’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Williamsburg
8.2 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Williamsburg’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 Williamsburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 36 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Williamsburg Regional Library serves 94,582 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Williamsburg Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
323,342 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Williamsburg Library, 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Williamsburg Regional Library branch.
New in Williamsburg? 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 $2.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Williamsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8M 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 26,218 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Williamsburg Regional Library serves 94,582 people in and around Williamsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Williamsburg.
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 Williamsburg
Does Williamsburg have a public library?
Yes. Williamsburg Regional Library, 515 Scotland Street, serves 94,582 people in and around Williamsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamsburg Regional Library 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 Williamsburg’s library?
It logged 5.7 visits and lent 11.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Williamsburg’s civic life grade?
B+ Williamsburg is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 Williamsburg.
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.