Photo: Mfwills · CC BY-SA 3.0Georgia’s library runs 75 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Georgia Public serves Georgia’s 4,876 residents. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,969 visits.
What stands out about Georgia’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Georgia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Georgia is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #67 of 71 in Vermont. Georgia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($79K–$131K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Georgia
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Georgia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Vermont 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 Georgia’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Georgia Public serves 4,876 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Georgia’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
6,473 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Georgia Public, 1697 Ethan Allen Hwy, Fairfax.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Georgia? 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 $2.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Georgia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $170K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $424K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $170K 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 1,763 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Georgia ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westford | Westford Public fine-free | 7.3 | 34 | A− |
| Fairfax | Fairfax Community fine-free | 7.1 | 45 | C |
| Georgia | Georgia Public fine-free | 4.7 | 38 | C |
| Milton | Milton Public fine-free | 3.8 | 43 | C |
| Grand Isle | Grand Isle Free Library fine-free | 2.3 | 26 | C |
| St. Albans | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Georgia
Does Georgia have a public library?
Yes. Georgia Public, 1697 Ethan Allen Hwy, serves Georgia’s 4,876 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Georgia Public 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 Georgia’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Georgia’s civic life grade?
C Georgia is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 of 71 in Vermont. 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 Georgia.
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.