Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0Jackson’s library is a branch of Jackson/Hinds Library System, which lends less per resident than 97% of systems its size
Jackson’s library is the Medgar Evers Library, a branch of Jackson/Hinds Library System, which serves 214,870 people and lent 173K items last year.
What Jackson’s library is like
The Jackson/Hinds Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Jackson/Hinds Library System records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Six branches in Jackson
Jackson has six branches of the Jackson/Hinds Library System, which serves 214,870 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Jackson’s library is a branch of Jackson/Hinds Library System, so they cover the whole system (214,870 people), not just the Jackson branch.
What’s behind Jackson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jackson is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #15 of 85 in Mississippi. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #133. Jackson is graded on two of the three inputs. Jackson’s 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 ($32K–$53K) 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 →
957 community nonprofits are registered in Jackson
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (236 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 41 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.8%
2.8% of Jackson’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi 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 Jackson’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jackson/Hinds Library System serves 214,870 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson/Hinds Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
173K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
67,854 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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.
6 places to borrow in Jackson
Medgar Evers Library, 4215 Medgar Evers Boulevard, Jackson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson/Hinds Library System branch.
New in Jackson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Jackson/Hinds Library System branches in Jackson
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jackson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 37,796 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | Medgar Evers Library fine-free | — | 47 | C+ |
| Flowood | G. Chastaine Flynt Memorial Library | — | 59 | B− |
| Byram | Beverly J. Brown Library fine-free | — | 35 | D |
| Clinton | Quisenberry Library fine-free | — | 47 | C+ |
| Ridgeland | Elsie E. Jurgens Memorial Library fine-free | — | 52 | C+ |
| Richland | Richland Public Library | — | 50 | D |
| Pearl | Pearl Public Library | — | 59 | D |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Medgar Evers Library is one branch of Jackson/Hinds Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 214,870 people it serves.
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 Jackson
Does Jackson have a public library?
Yes: Medgar Evers Library, 4215 Medgar Evers Boulevard, is a branch of Jackson/Hinds Library System, which serves 214,870 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson/Hinds Library System 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 Jackson’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Jackson’s civic life grade?
C+ Jackson is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 of 85 in Mississippi. 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 Jackson.
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.