Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Olive Branch’s library is a branch of First Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 64% of systems its size
Olive Branch’s library is the B. J. Chain Public Library, a branch of First Regional Library, which serves 321,878 people and lent 917K items last year.
What stands out about B. J. Chain Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Olive Branch’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Olive Branch is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #49 of 85 in Mississippi. Olive Branch is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Olive Branch’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
First Regional Library spends $17 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($75K–$126K) 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 →
144 community nonprofits are registered in Olive Branch
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Olive Branch’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 Olive Branch’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
First Regional Library serves 321,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole First Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
917K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
115,623 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 35 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
B. J. Chain Public Library, 6619 Highway 305 North, Olive Branch.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every First Regional Library branch.
New in Olive Branch? 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 $3.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Olive Branch cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.4M 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 211,853 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collierville | Lucius E. and Elsie C. Burch Jr. Library | 8.8 | 57 | B− |
| Olive Branch | B. J. Chain Public Library | — | 59 | D |
| Southaven | M. R. Davis Public Library | — | 53 | D |
| Memphis | Memphis Public Library and Information Center fine-free | — | 60 | C |
| Bridgetown | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. B. J. Chain Public Library is one branch of First Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 321,878 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 Olive Branch
Does Olive Branch have a public library?
Yes: B. J. Chain Public Library, 6619 Highway 305 North, is a branch of First Regional Library, which serves 321,878 people. The branch is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is First Regional 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 Olive Branch’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Olive Branch’s civic life grade?
D Olive Branch is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Olive Branch.
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.