Community Report Outlines Library’s Importance to Community
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The Anderson County Library System continues to grow, with the number of people visiting one of the library’s nine branches up almost 40 percent in 2024.
The new Community Report lists total visits to the library last year topped 400,000 and 114,499 residents of the county now have library cards (more than half the population).
Anderson, Belton, Honea Path, Iva, Pendleton, Piedmont, Powdersville, the Westside Community Center and Williamston branches all reported an increase in users. Upgrades to several of the branches, and construction on a new library on the town square in Iva also improved services last year.
A total of 831,083 items were checked out from the library in 2024 and at the main library in Anderson, groups used the public spaces for meetings more than 4,000 times. The Electric City Creative makers’ space served 3,553 patrons.
With 435 story times, the youngest readers were given more opportunities to participate and learn. There were 435 programs for toddlers ages 0-5, 195 programs for children ages 6-12, 30 programs for Tweens ages 8-12, 147 programs for teens ages 12-18, 523 programs for adults and 27 programs open to all age groups.
Meanwhile, use of the library’s digital collection continued to rise, with more than 325,000 digital checkouts in 2024.
The library also served as a community hub in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, working with Anderson County Emergency Management to open the main branch for people whose electricity was knocked out by the storm for extended periods to come in and charge their electronics, read and enjoy the air conditioning. A FEMA Survivor Assistance Team also set up shop at the library helping almost 3,000 residents file the paperwork to report storm damage.
A complete copy of the community report can be found here.
Library Director Annie Sutton offered some insights on the report and the importance of the library in Anderson County in this interview with the Anderson Observer.
