Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainCorbin’s library logs 5.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Corbin Public Library serves Corbin’s 7,856 residents. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
Corbin’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
10,147 cards for 7,856 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. Today’s library there has 20,545 square feet. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Corbin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Corbin is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #43 of 126 in Kentucky. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Corbin
4.9 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of Corbin’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 Corbin’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Corbin Public Library serves 7,856 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
15,175 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Corbin last year.
A National Register landmark since 1986
Corbin Public Library, 215 Roy Kidd Avenue, Corbin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Corbin? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 28, 1986. It is significant for its education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Corbin MRA.
The Carnegie Library in Corbin, Kentucky, United States, is a building from 1916. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It is a five-bay two-story building with a stepped brick parapet. It has also served as the WYGO radio station.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Corbin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $279K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $928K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $279K 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 10,147 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corbin | Corbin Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 54 | B− |
| North Corbin | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Corbin
Does Corbin have a public library?
Yes. Corbin Public Library, 215 Roy Kidd Avenue, serves Corbin’s 7,856 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Corbin 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 Corbin’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Corbin’s civic life grade?
B− Corbin is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 of 126 in Kentucky. 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 Corbin.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.