Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Jamestown’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Russell County Public Library serves 18,279 people in and around Jamestown. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
The short version on Jamestown’s library
Programs draw a crowd
22,000 people came to the system’s 496 programs last year: 1.2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
73% of the people it serves carry a library card
13,269 cards for 18,279 people, or 73%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Russell County Public Library serves 18,279 people in and around Jamestown, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jamestown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jamestown is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns. Jamestown is graded on two of the three inputs. Jamestown’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($15K–$26K) it does better, ahead of 68%.
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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Jamestown
4.3 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.8%
3.8% of Jamestown’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 Jamestown’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Russell County Public Library serves 18,279 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Russell County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,121 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Russell County Public Library, 535 North Main Street, Jamestown.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Russell County Public Library branch.
New in Jamestown? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jamestown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $666K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $666K 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 13,269 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown | Russell County Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | C− |
| Russell Springs | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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. Russell County Public Library serves 18,279 people in and around Jamestown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jamestown.
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 Jamestown
Does Jamestown have a public library?
Yes. Russell County Public Library, 535 North Main Street, serves 18,279 people in and around Jamestown (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Russell County 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 Jamestown’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Jamestown’s civic life grade?
C− Jamestown is ahead of 24% 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 Jamestown.
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.