Athens-Clarke County Library
Athens’s library is the Athens-Clarke County Library, a branch of Athens Regional Library System, which serves 250,788 people and lent 984K items last year.
Athens’s library, in brief
Open about 67 hours a week
The Athens branch is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Five branches in Athens
Athens has five branches of the Athens Regional Library System, which serves 250,788 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Athens’s library is a branch of Athens Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (250,788 people), not just the Athens branch.
5 places to borrow in Athens
Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter Street, Athens.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Athens Regional Library System branch.
New in Athens? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Athens Regional Library System branches in Athens
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Athens Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Strongest at program attendance
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Athens Regional Library System serves 250,788 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
984K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
270,266 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 28 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Athens cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 114,225 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | Athens-Clarke County Library | — | 67 |
| Winterville | Winterville Branch Library | — | 19 |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Athens-Clarke County Library is one branch of Athens Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 250,788 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Athens.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.