Richland · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Blaine’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Blaine Public Library serves 5,183 people in and around Blaine. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,472 visits.
What Blaine’s library is like
Blaine Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Blaine Public Library records 0.7 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: $8 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Blaine Public Library offered 2 programs last year, 0.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Blaine Public Library serves more than Blaine
The library’s service area covers 5,183 people in and around Blaine, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Blaine Public Library spends $8 per resident, less than 97% 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 Blaine’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blaine is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns. Blaine is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Blaine Public Library spends $8 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$96K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Blaine
1.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
7.4%
7.4% of Blaine’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 Blaine’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.
Blaine Public Library serves 5,183 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,352 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
2,706 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 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
Blaine Public Library, 220 Indian Ridge Road, Blaine.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Blaine? 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 $4.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blaine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $40K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $171K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $40K 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 1,171 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Blaine
Does Blaine have a public library?
Yes. Blaine Public Library, 220 Indian Ridge Road, serves 5,183 people in and around Blaine (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blaine 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 Blaine’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Blaine’s civic life grade?
C− Blaine is ahead of 18% 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 Blaine.
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.