WILLIAMSBURG — Results from the 2020 Census are in, and one local library system is showing pride in its part in helping aid the participation.
According to a July 23 news release, the Williamsburg Regional Library (WRL) helped the participation process by taking a multi-pronged approach to aiding local census efforts that included leading a Census Summit in February 2020, publicizing changes to the census schedule and procedures once the pandemic began, and sending out Mobile Library Services vehicles to hubs around the community to bring census help to residents who had not filled out their forms as of the end of last summer.
When the census was last conducted in 2010, the Williamsburg area was undercounted.
The census results in an estimated $2,000 per year for everyone counted, or $20,000 per person over a ten-year span, according to reports from the U.S. Census Bureau. Money from the census goes toward infrastructure projects like roads, housing, and education.
Despite the pandemic, local self-response to the census went up in 2020. In the City of Williamsburg, this number increased from 64.8% in 2010 to 66.7% in 2020; James City County’s number increased from 72.3% to 79.3%, making it the 10th highest self-response rate of any county in Virginia.
