Photo: User:Accurizer · Public domainJackson’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Jackson Public Library serves Jackson’s 1,043 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Jackson’s library is like
Jackson uses its library more than almost any town its size
Jackson Public Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 92% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 40% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Jackson Public Library serves 1,043 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 28 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
61% of the 198 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 73 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Jackson’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Jackson is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Jackson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Jackson near the top nationally; Jackson’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Jackson Public Library logged 15.1 visits per resident in FY2024, #66 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Jackson
13.8 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jackson Public Library serves 1,043 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
5,471 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Jackson Public Library, 52 Main Street, Jackson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Jackson? 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 $2.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jackson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $109K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $317K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $109K 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 454 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.
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.
- Visits count everyone. Jackson’s 15,785 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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. Jackson Public Library, 52 Main Street, serves Jackson’s 1,043 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson Public 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 Jackson’s library?
It logged 15.1 visits and lent 18.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jackson’s civic life grade?
A+ Jackson is among the top 1% 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 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.