Muhlenberg County Courthouse · Photo: Acdixon · CC0Greenville’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Muhlenberg County Public Libraries serves 30,568 people in and around Greenville. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
What stands out about Muhlenberg County Public Libraries
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Greenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #23 of 126 in Kentucky. Greenville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Greenville’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Greenville
2.7 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
15.1%
15.1% of Greenville’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 Greenville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Muhlenberg County Public Libraries serves 30,568 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Muhlenberg County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,786 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Muhlenberg County Public Libraries, 117 South Main, Greenville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Muhlenberg County Public Libraries branch.
New in Greenville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 14,900 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville | Muhlenberg County Public Libraries fine-free | — | 46 | B+ |
| Powderly | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Muhlenberg County Public Libraries serves 30,568 people in and around Greenville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greenville.
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 Greenville
Does Greenville have a public library?
Yes. Muhlenberg County Public Libraries, 117 South Main, serves 30,568 people in and around Greenville (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muhlenberg County Public Libraries 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 Greenville’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Greenville’s civic life grade?
B+ Greenville is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 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 Greenville.
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.