Horry County Memorial Library
Horry County Memorial Library is a county public library system based in Conway (Horry County), South Carolina, serving a legal service area of 351,029 residents through 11 library buildings and one bookmobile. Among the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina, it ranks fourth for population served, fifth for number of library buildings, sixth for total visits and seventh for physical checkouts, but ranks second-lowest for print volumes per resident and third-lowest for paid staff per resident.
Against the median system of its size class, it records 49% less operating spending per resident and 45% fewer visits per resident.
Horry County Memorial against the 122 systems of its size class
Horry County Memorial, building by building
The 11 buildings cover 125,564 square feet in total, 0.36 square feet per resident against a median of 0.46 for the size class. The largest building is Conway Library at 22,626 square feet; the smallest is Thompson Heritage and Research Library at 2,959. The longest hours are at Conway Library, 66 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conway Library | Central library | Conway | 66 | 22,626 |
| Aynor Library | Branch | Aynor | 41 | 3,849 |
| Bucksport Library | Branch | Conway | 41 | 3,009 |
| Carolina Forest Library | Branch | Myrtle Beach | 57 | 19,935 |
| Green Sea Floyds Library | Branch | Green Sea | 41 | 3,691 |
| Little River Library | Branch | Little River | 45 | 4,000 |
| Loris Library | Branch | Loris | 41 | 6,040 |
| North Myrtle Beach Library | Branch | North Myrtle Beach | 54 | 19,935 |
| Socastee Library | Branch | Myrtle Beach | 57 | 22,260 |
| Surfside Beach Library | Branch | Surfside Beach | 54 | 17,260 |
| Thompson Heritage and Research Library | Branch | Conway | 30 | 2,959 |
| Horry County Memorial Library Bookmobile | Bookmobile | Myrtle Beach | 40 |
Horry County Memorial in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 429,243
- Physical checkouts
- 863,530
- …of children's materials
- 357,956
- Electronic checkouts
- 313,164
- …of e-books
- 174,254
- …of e-audio
- 129,651
- Registered users
- 143,025
- Program sessions
- 4,474
- Program attendance
- 75,710
- Print volumes
- 270,100
- Audio items (physical)
- 13,532
- Video items (physical)
- 12,781
- Public computers
- 156
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 29,484
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 75.0
- Operating spending
- $6.5 million
- …on books and other materials
- $1 million
- Overdue fines on print items
- charged
Where Horry County Memorial gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $6.5 million, or $18.48 per resident. The local-government share sits 4 percentage points below the combined share for the 41 profiled systems in South Carolina.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
Who comes to Horry County Memorial programs
Programs for children up to age 11 drew 61% of all program attendance, and sessions averaged 17 people each.
Nearest in size within South Carolina
- Spartanburg County Public Library System · Spartanburg · 327,997 residents
- Charleston County Public Library System · Charleston · 408,235 residents
- Richland County Public Library · Columbia · 416,147 residents
- Lexington County Public Library System · Lexington · 293,991 residents
County libraries of similar size in other states
Of these six systems, five record more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Howard County Library System in Maryland.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington County Library | Westampton, NJ | 363,983 | 1.76 | 2.82 | $34.45 |
| Anoka County Library | Blaine, MN | 349,759 | 1.69 | 5.40 | $30.80 |
| Tulare County Free Library | Visalia, CA | 345,185 | 0.50 | 0.72 | $19.01 |
| Cumberland County Public Library | Fayetteville, NC | 337,970 | 1.84 | 2.99 | $33.32 |
| Henrico County Public Library | Henrico, VA | 336,226 | 4.22 | 7.36 | $67.13 |
| Howard County Library System | Ellicott City, MD | 334,529 | 4.70 | 12.51 | $89.12 |