Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Athens’ library runs 4.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
E. G. Fisher Public Library serves 38,808 people in and around Athens. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 76K visits.
Athens’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 53% of loans. Print still makes up 47%. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
E. G. Fisher Public Library spends $8 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; E. G. Fisher Public Library serves 38,808 people in and around Athens, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Athens’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Athens is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #54 of 150 in Tennessee. Athens is graded on two of the three inputs. Athens’ 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 ($40K–$67K) 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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Athens
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (26 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.
5.2%
5.2% of Athens’ 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 Athens’ residents live; 2022.
53% of borrowing is digital
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
55,919 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
E. G. Fisher Public Library serves 38,808 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole E. G. Fisher Public Library system. The library’s own count.
191 programs a year
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
E. G. Fisher Public Library, 1289 Ingleside Avenue, Athens.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every E. G. Fisher Public Library branch.
New in Athens? 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 $5.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Athens cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $325K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $325K 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 17,818 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. E. G. Fisher Public Library serves 38,808 people in and around Athens, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Athens.
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 Athens
Does Athens have a public library?
Yes. E. G. Fisher Public Library, 1289 Ingleside Avenue, serves 38,808 people in and around Athens (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is E. G. Fisher 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 Athens’ library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Athens’ civic life grade?
C+ Athens is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 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 Athens.
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.