Photo: Nyttend · Public domainJackson’s library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Breathitt County Public Library serves 12,953 people in and around Jackson. Last year it lent 86K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
What Jackson’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
61,000 people came to the system’s 205 programs last year: 4.7 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 205 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 81% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Breathitt County Public Library serves 12,953 people in and around Jackson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jackson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jackson is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns. Jackson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Jackson’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($25K–$41K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Jackson
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
4.1%
4.1% of Jackson’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 Jackson’s residents live; 2022.
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.
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.
Breathitt County Public Library serves 12,953 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Breathitt County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
86K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,982 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Breathitt County Public Library, 1024 College Avenue, Jackson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Breathitt County Public Library branch.
New in Jackson? 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 $3.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jackson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $561K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $561K 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 7,015 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Breathitt County Public Library serves 12,953 people in and around Jackson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jackson.
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 Jackson
Does Jackson have a public library?
Yes. Breathitt County Public Library, 1024 College Avenue, serves 12,953 people in and around Jackson (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Breathitt 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 Jackson’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Jackson’s civic life grade?
D Jackson is ahead of 8% 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 Jackson.
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.