Photo: Jamie · CC BY 2.0Hodgenville’s library runs 32 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Larue County Public Library serves 15,303 people in and around Hodgenville. Last year it lent 63K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
The short version on Hodgenville’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 78% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 58% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kentucky pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 79% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 496 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 133 were for children. 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; Larue County Public Library serves 15,303 people in and around Hodgenville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hodgenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hodgenville is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #102 of 126 in Kentucky. Hodgenville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hodgenville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Hodgenville
2.8 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.
5.5%
5.5% of Hodgenville’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 Hodgenville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Larue County Public Library serves 15,303 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Larue County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
63K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,732 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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
Larue County Public Library, 215 Lincoln Drive, Hodgenville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Larue County Public Library branch.
New in Hodgenville? The Handbook →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 $2.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hodgenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $444K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $955K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $444K 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 8,802 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Larue County Public Library serves 15,303 people in and around Hodgenville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hodgenville.
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 Hodgenville
Does Hodgenville have a public library?
Yes. Larue County Public Library, 215 Lincoln Drive, serves 15,303 people in and around Hodgenville (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Larue County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hodgenville’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hodgenville’s civic life grade?
D Hodgenville is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 Hodgenville.
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.