Augusta Public Library
Augusta’s library is the Augusta Public Library, a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which serves 206,731 people and lent 282K items last year.
The short version on Augusta’s library
The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Six branches in Augusta
Augusta has six branches of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, which serves 206,731 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; Augusta’s library is a branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (206,731 people), not just the Augusta branch.
6 places to borrow in Augusta
Augusta Public Library, 823 Telfair Street, Augusta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System branch.
New in Augusta? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System branches in Augusta
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Below most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
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.
Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System serves 206,731 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
282K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
63,021 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Augusta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 93,606 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | Augusta Public Library | — | 58 |
| North Augusta | Nancy Carson Library | — | 46 |
| Grovetown | Grovetown Library | — | 48 |
| Hephzibah | None of its own | — | — |
| Martinez | None of its own | — | — |
| Beech Island | None of its own | — | — |
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. Augusta Public Library is one branch of Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,731 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Augusta.
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.