Photo: w.marsh · CC BY 2.0Hindman’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Knott County Public Library serves 13,659 people in and around Hindman. Last year it lent 3,400 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,500 visits.
The short version on Hindman’s library
Knott County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Knott County Public Library records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Knott County Public Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Knott County Public Library serves 13,659 people in and around Hindman, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hindman’s civic life grade
Hindman isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Knott County Public Library serves 13,659 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Knott County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,400 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Knott County Public Library, 238 Highway 160 South, Hindman.
Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Knott County Public Library branch.
New in Hindman? 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 Hindman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $52K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 6,476 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Knott County Public Library serves 13,659 people in and around Hindman, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hindman.
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 Hindman
Does Hindman have a public library?
Yes. Knott County Public Library, 238 Highway 160 South, serves 13,659 people in and around Hindman (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Knott County Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hindman’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hindman’s civic life grade?
Hindman isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hindman.
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.