Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Manchester’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Clay County Public Library serves 19,648 people in and around Manchester. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What Manchester’s library is like
Clay County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Clay County Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 187 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Clay County Public Library serves 19,648 people in and around Manchester, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Manchester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Manchester has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Manchester is graded on two of the three inputs. Manchester’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($18K–$29K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Manchester
1.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Manchester’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 Manchester’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Clay County Public Library serves 19,648 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clay County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Clay County Public Library, 211 Bridge Street, Manchester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clay County Public Library branch.
New in Manchester? 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 Manchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $629K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $402K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $629K 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 12,310 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Clay County Public Library serves 19,648 people in and around Manchester, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Manchester.
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 Manchester
Does Manchester have a public library?
Yes. Clay County Public Library, 211 Bridge Street, serves 19,648 people in and around Manchester (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clay 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 Manchester’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Manchester’s civic life grade?
D− Manchester has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Manchester.
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.