Keeneland-Keeneland Racetrack · Photo: Jason Phillips (user:Wildcat~commonswiki) · CC BY 2.5Lexington’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Lexington Public Library serves 320,154 people in and around Lexington from 7 locations. Last year it lent 4.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 999K visits.
Lexington’s library, in brief
A system of heavy borrowers
Lexington Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 41% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Seven branches in Lexington
Lexington has seven branches of the Lexington Public Library, which serves 320,154 people in and around Lexington. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Lexington Public Library serves 320,154 people in and around Lexington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lexington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lexington is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #62 of 126 in Kentucky. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #120. Lexington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
1,204 community nonprofits are registered in Lexington
3.7 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 (257 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 83 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Lexington’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 Lexington’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,134,710 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lexington Public Library serves 320,154 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 219 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lexington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 33 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.
7 places to borrow in Lexington
Lexington Public Library, 140 East Main Street, Lexington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lexington Public Library branch.
New in Lexington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Lexington Public Library branches in Lexington
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lexington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 151,153 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lexington Public Library serves 320,154 people in and around Lexington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lexington.
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 Lexington
Does Lexington have a public library?
Yes. Lexington Public Library, 140 East Main Street, serves 320,154 people in and around Lexington (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lexington 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 Lexington’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 14.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lexington’s civic life grade?
C+ Lexington is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 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 Lexington.
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.