Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Taylorsville’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Spencer County Public Library serves 20,531 people in and around Taylorsville. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 26K visits.
Taylorsville’s library, in brief
Spencer County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Spencer County Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; Spencer County Public Library serves 20,531 people in and around Taylorsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Taylorsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Taylorsville is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns. Taylorsville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Taylorsville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Taylorsville
2.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.5%
9.5% of Taylorsville’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 Taylorsville’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.
Spencer County Public Library serves 20,531 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 Spencer County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
42% of borrowing is digital
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,582 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
Spencer County Public Library, 168 Taylorsville Road, Taylorsville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Spencer County Public Library branch.
New in Taylorsville? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Taylorsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $679K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $679K 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 10,429 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Spencer County Public Library serves 20,531 people in and around Taylorsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Taylorsville.
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 Taylorsville
Does Taylorsville have a public library?
Yes. Spencer County Public Library, 168 Taylorsville Road, serves 20,531 people in and around Taylorsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spencer 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 Taylorsville’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Taylorsville’s civic life grade?
C+ Taylorsville is ahead of 42% 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 Taylorsville.
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.