Photo: Spiritrock4u at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Paris’ library runs 59 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Paris-Bourbon County Library serves 20,134 people in and around Paris. Last year it lent 104K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
What Paris’s library is like
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Paris-Bourbon County Library ran 1,182 programs last year, about 23 a week. That’s 59 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 25,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
The Paris branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
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; Paris-Bourbon County Library serves 20,134 people in and around Paris, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Paris’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Paris is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #55 of 126 in Kentucky. Paris is graded on two of the three inputs. Paris’ 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 ($42K–$70K) 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 →
62 community nonprofits are registered in Paris
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of Paris’ 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 Paris’ residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Paris-Bourbon County Library serves 20,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Paris-Bourbon County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
104K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
30,073 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Paris-Bourbon County Library, 701 High Street, Paris.
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 Paris-Bourbon County Library branch.
New in Paris? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Paris cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 10,306 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Paris-Bourbon County Library serves 20,134 people in and around Paris, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Paris.
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 Paris
Does Paris have a public library?
Yes. Paris-Bourbon County Library, 701 High Street, serves 20,134 people in and around Paris (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Paris-Bourbon County 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 Paris’ library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Paris’ civic life grade?
C+ Paris is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #55 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 Paris.
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.