Northcutts Cove Chapel · Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Altamont’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Altamont Public Library serves 2,761 people in and around Altamont. Last year it lent 1,843 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,125 visits.
Altamont’s library, in brief
Altamont Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Altamont Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Altamont branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Altamont Public Library spends $6 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Altamont Public Library serves 2,761 people in and around Altamont, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Altamont’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Altamont is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns. Altamont is graded on two of the three inputs. Altamont’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Altamont
4.7 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.4%
6.4% of Altamont’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Altamont’s residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
1,843 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
962 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Altamont Public Library serves 2,761 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Altamont Public Library system. The library’s own count.
10 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Altamont Public Library, 1433 Main Street, Altamont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Altamont Public Library branch.
New in Altamont? 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 $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Altamont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $37K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 384 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beersheba Springs | Beersheba Springs Public Library fine-free | 3.0 | 20 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Altamont | Altamont Public Library fine-free | — | 20 | B− |
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. Altamont Public Library serves 2,761 people in and around Altamont, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Altamont.
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 Altamont
Does Altamont have a public library?
Yes. Altamont Public Library, 1433 Main Street, serves 2,761 people in and around Altamont (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Altamont 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 Altamont’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Altamont’s civic life grade?
B− Altamont is ahead of 47% 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 Altamont.
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.