Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Tompkinsville’s library runs 37 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
William B. Harlan Memorial Library serves 11,306 people in and around Tompkinsville. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,282 visits.
What Tompkinsville’s library is like
Programs draw a crowd
22,000 people came to the system’s 423 programs last year: 2 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
William B. Harlan Memorial Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 93% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 53% of similar-size libraries. 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; William B. Harlan Memorial Library serves 11,306 people in and around Tompkinsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Tompkinsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tompkinsville is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Tompkinsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Tompkinsville
4.3 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.
22.8%
22.8% of Tompkinsville’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 Tompkinsville’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
William B. Harlan Memorial Library serves 11,306 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole William B. Harlan Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,196 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
William B. Harlan Memorial Library, 500 West Fourth Street, Tompkinsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every William B. Harlan Memorial Library branch.
New in Tompkinsville? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tompkinsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $395K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $738K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $395K 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 5,529 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. William B. Harlan Memorial Library serves 11,306 people in and around Tompkinsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tompkinsville.
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 Tompkinsville
Does Tompkinsville have a public library?
Yes. William B. Harlan Memorial Library, 500 West Fourth Street, serves 11,306 people in and around Tompkinsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is William B. Harlan Memorial 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 Tompkinsville’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Tompkinsville’s civic life grade?
A Tompkinsville is ahead of 90% 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 Tompkinsville.
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.