Photo: Ttlouderback · CC BY-SA 4.0Arlington’s library runs 29 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Sam T. Wilson Public Library serves Arlington’s 15,305 residents. Last year it lent 66K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Arlington’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 77% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 59% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sam T. Wilson Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% 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.
What’s behind Arlington’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Arlington is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #95 of 150 in Tennessee. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Sam T. Wilson Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($101K–$169K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Arlington
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Arlington’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 Arlington’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sam T. Wilson Public Library serves 15,305 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
22,630 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Arlington last year.
Find it
Sam T. Wilson Public Library, 11968 Walker, Arlington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Arlington? 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 $4.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arlington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $212K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $990K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $212K 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 3,614 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Arlington
Does Arlington have a public library?
Yes. Sam T. Wilson Public Library, 11968 Walker, serves Arlington’s 15,305 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sam T. Wilson Public 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 Arlington’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Arlington’s civic life grade?
C− Arlington is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #95 of 150 in Tennessee. 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 Arlington.
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.