Photo: Billwhittaker · Public domainClarksville’s library runs 150 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Clarksville Public Library serves Clarksville’s 2,285 residents. Last year it lent 17K print books and media and logged 16K visits.
What Clarksville’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 343 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Clarksville Public Library serves 2,285 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 41 items per child in Clarksville last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
7,199 people came to the library’s 343 programs last year: 3.2 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Clarksville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clarksville is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns. Clarksville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Clarksville near the top nationally; Clarksville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Clarksville
9.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.6%
12.6% of Clarksville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Clarksville’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Clarksville last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Clarksville Public Library serves 2,285 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
17K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Find it
Clarksville Public Library, 103 W Greene St., Clarksville.
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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clarksville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $329K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 1,722 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Clarksville
Does Clarksville have a public library?
Yes. Clarksville Public Library, 103 W Greene St., serves Clarksville’s 2,285 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clarksville Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clarksville’s library?
It logged 6.9 visits and lent 7.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Clarksville’s civic life grade?
A+ Clarksville is ahead of 98% 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 Clarksville.
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.