Wheeler Hydroelectric Project · Photo: Tennessee Valley Authority · Public domainRogersville’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Rogersville Public Library serves 1,365 people in and around Rogersville. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on Rogersville’s library
More library cards than residents
5,131 cards for 1,365 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Rogersville Public Library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 142 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 15% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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; Rogersville Public Library serves 1,365 people in and around Rogersville, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Rogersville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Rogersville is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Rogersville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Rogersville
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Rogersville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Rogersville’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Rogersville Public Library serves 1,365 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rogersville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,633 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Rogersville Public Library, 74 Bank Street, Rogersville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rogersville Public Library branch.
New in Rogersville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rogersville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $138K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $484K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $138K 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 5,131 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Rogersville Public Library serves 1,365 people in and around Rogersville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rogersville.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Rogersville
Does Rogersville have a public library?
Yes. Rogersville Public Library, 74 Bank Street, serves 1,365 people in and around Rogersville (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rogersville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rogersville’s library?
It logged 7.8 visits and lent 23.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Rogersville’s civic life grade?
C+ Rogersville is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Rogersville.
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.