Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Celina’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clay County Public Library serves 7,714 people in and around Celina. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Celina’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Clay County Public Library offered 48 programs last year, 6.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Clay County Public Library spends $9 per resident, less than 96% 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; Clay County Public Library serves 7,714 people in and around Celina, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Celina’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Celina is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns. Celina 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.
Clay County Public Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($24K–$40K) 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 Celina
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.0%
7.0% of Celina’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 Celina’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Clay County Public Library serves 7,714 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clay County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Celina’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
5,704 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
48 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
Clay County Public Library, 116 Guffey Street, Celina.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clay County Public Library branch.
New in Celina? 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 $9.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Celina cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $68K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $620K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $68K 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 4,910 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Clay County Public Library serves 7,714 people in and around Celina, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Celina.
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 Celina
Does Celina have a public library?
Yes. Clay County Public Library, 116 Guffey Street, serves 7,714 people in and around Celina (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clay County 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 Celina’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Celina’s civic life grade?
C− Celina is ahead of 16% 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 Celina.
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.