Photo: WeaponizingArchitecture · CC BY-SA 4.0Chattanooga’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Chattanooga Public Library serves Chattanooga’s 187,030 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 339K visits.
What Chattanooga’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 73% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 2,304 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 22 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Five places to borrow in Chattanooga
Chattanooga Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Chattanooga’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chattanooga is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #72 of 150 in Tennessee. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #158. Chattanooga’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$81K) 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 →
962 community nonprofits are registered in Chattanooga
5.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (270 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 57 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Chattanooga’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 Chattanooga’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Chattanooga Public Library serves 187,030 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 194K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.8 times last year, on average.
377,343 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 31 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 Chattanooga last year.
5 places to borrow in Chattanooga
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library, 1001 Broad Street, Chattanooga.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chattanooga? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Chattanooga
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chattanooga cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8M 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 81,980 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Chattanooga ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collegedale | Collegedale Public Library | 14.8 | 49 | B− |
| Signal Mountain | Town of Signal Mountain Library | 6.6 | 36 | B− |
| Chattanooga | Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library | 5.9 | 50 | C |
| East Ridge | East Ridge City Library | 1.6 | 48 | D |
| Rossville | Rossville Public Library | — | 38 | D− |
| Harrison | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lookout Mountain | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Middle Valley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Soddy-Daisy | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Falling Water | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Chattanooga Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Chattanooga
Does Chattanooga have a public library?
Yes. Chattanooga Public Library, 1001 Broad Street, serves Chattanooga’s 187,030 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chattanooga 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 Chattanooga’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Chattanooga’s civic life grade?
C Chattanooga is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Chattanooga.
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.