Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Hermitage’s library runs 4.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Hickory County Library serves 8,279 people in and around Hermitage. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Hermitage’s library is like
More library cards than residents
10,837 cards for 8,279 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hickory County Library offered 38 programs last year, 4.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Hickory County Library serves 8,279 people in and around Hermitage, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hermitage’s civic life grade
Hermitage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hickory County Library serves 8,279 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hickory County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,302 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
38 programs a year
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
Hickory County Library, 18376 New Hermitage Drive, Hermitage.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hickory County Library branch.
New in Hermitage? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hermitage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $208K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $422K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $208K 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 10,837 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hickory County Library serves 8,279 people in and around Hermitage, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hermitage.
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 Hermitage
Does Hermitage have a public library?
Yes. Hickory County Library, 18376 New Hermitage Drive, serves 8,279 people in and around Hermitage (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hickory County 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 Hermitage’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hermitage’s civic life grade?
Hermitage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hermitage.
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.