Photo: Nathan Metcalf · CC BY-SA 4.0Bean Station’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bean Station Public Library serves 8,392 people in and around Bean Station. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,261 visits.
The short version on Bean Station’s library
Bean Station Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Bean Station Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Bean Station Public Library offered 8 programs last year, 1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Bean Station Public Library serves more than Bean Station
The library’s service area covers 8,392 people in and around Bean Station, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Bean Station 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.
What’s behind Bean Station’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bean Station has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Bean Station is graded on two of the three inputs. Bean Station’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Bean Station Public Library spends $6 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Bean Station
0.9 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.3%
3.3% of Bean Station’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 Bean Station’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bean Station Public Library serves 8,392 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K 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.
6,008 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 programs a year
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
Bean Station Public Library, 895 Broadway Drive, Bean Station.
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 Bean Station? 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 $5.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bean Station cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $54K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $315K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $54K 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 3,284 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bean Station | Bean Station Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 35 | D− |
| Mooresburg | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Bean Station
Does Bean Station have a public library?
Yes. Bean Station Public Library, 895 Broadway Drive, serves 8,392 people in and around Bean Station (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bean Station 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 Bean Station’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bean Station’s civic life grade?
D− Bean Station has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Bean Station.
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.