Photo: Ascended Dreamer · CC BY 4.0Greensboro’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Greensboro Free Library serves 903 people in and around Greensboro. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 8,534 visits.
The short version on Greensboro’s library
More library cards than residents
1,270 cards for 903 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
77% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 22%. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Greensboro Free Library logs 9.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 18 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Greensboro Free Library ran 213 programs last year, about 4 a week. That’s 236 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 2,055 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Greensboro Free Library spends $148 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; Greensboro Free Library serves 903 people in and around Greensboro, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Greensboro’s civic life grade
Greensboro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Books and media off the shelf
16K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Greensboro’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Greensboro Free Library serves 903 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Greensboro Free Library system. The library’s own count.
About 3 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
Greensboro Free Library, 53 Wilson St., Greensboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Greensboro Free Library branch.
New in Greensboro? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greensboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $134K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $338K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $134K 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 1,270 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craftsbury | Craftsbury Public fine-free | 15.6 | 35 | A+ |
| Hardwick | Jeudevine Memorial fine-free | 4.9 | 35 | B+ |
| Glover | Glover Public fine-free | 1.2 | 22 | A− |
| Greensboro | Greensboro Free Library fine-free | — | 31 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wolcott | Glee Merritt Kelley Community | — | — | B− |
| Wheelock | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stannard | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greensboro Bend | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. Vermont libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Greensboro Free Library serves 903 people in and around Greensboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greensboro.
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 Greensboro
Does Greensboro have a public library?
Yes. Greensboro Free Library, 53 Wilson St., serves 903 people in and around Greensboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greensboro Free 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 Greensboro’s library?
It logged 9.5 visits and lent 17.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Greensboro’s civic life grade?
Greensboro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Greensboro.
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.