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Cumberland County Kentucky courthousePhoto: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cumberland County Public Library

Burkesville’s library runs 47 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size

Cumberland County Public Library serves 6,000 people in and around Burkesville. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.

114 Hill Street, Burkesville 42717 · about 45 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 67% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
34K
5.6 per resident
Visits a year
12K
2 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
281
about 5 a week · 3,979 attended
Cardholders
47%
2,835 cards
Open
45 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Cumberland County Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Burkesville’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Burkesville is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Burkesville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Burkesville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Burkesville’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 67%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $26K–$43K (960)Ahead of 79%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Burkesville is small (1,389 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

4 community nonprofits are registered in Burkesville

2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.14 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.17 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.34 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.14 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

14.3%

14.3% of Burkesville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Burkesville’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2 visits · typical 3Lower than 67%
Borrowing per resident 4.1 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 53%
Digital borrowing 1.5 e-items · typical 1Higher than 66%
Kids’ borrowing 0.7 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 75%
Program attendance 0.7 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 61%
Programs offered 46.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Higher than 64%
Cardholders 47% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 58%
Spending $50 per resident · typical $43Higher than 60%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Cumberland County Public Library serves 6,000 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cumberland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.

12K
visits
2 per resident
34K
loans, print + digital
5.6 per resident
281
programs & events
3,979 attended
2,835
library cards
47% of people served
Every open hour12items borrowed
Every week77people at a program
Every day27Wi-Fi sessions
5 staff (full-time equivalent)8 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

34Kloans
Books & media (adults) 60%Kids’ books & media 13%E-books, audio & streaming 27%
From your couch

9,176 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Burkesville →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–588
Ages 6–1141
Teens1
Adults126
All ages25
Little ones
1.7

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

4,335
kids’ books & media borrowed
3,979
people at programs
281
programs
The building

Find it

Cumberland County Public Library, 114 Hill Street, Burkesville.

45
hours open a week
6,221
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cumberland County Public Library branch.

New in Burkesville? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.01 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burkesville cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$50 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $301K.

Local taxes 98%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $603K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $301K 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 2,835 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Cumberland County Public Library serves 6,000 people in and around Burkesville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Burkesville.

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 Burkesville

Does Burkesville have a public library?

Yes. Cumberland County Public Library, 114 Hill Street, serves 6,000 people in and around Burkesville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Cumberland County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?

Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Burkesville’s library?

It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Burkesville’s civic life grade?

B+ Burkesville is ahead of 67% 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 Burkesville.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.