Photo: Harrison Keely · CC BY 4.0Cleveland’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Cleveland Bradley County Public Library serves 111,579 people in and around Cleveland from 2 locations. Last year it lent 415K books, movies and e-books and logged 147K visits.
Cleveland’s library, in brief
Open about 70 hours a week
The Cleveland branch is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
84% of the people it serves carry a library card
93,869 cards for 111,579 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Cleveland Bradley County Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 60% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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; Cleveland Bradley County Public Library serves 111,579 people in and around Cleveland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cleveland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cleveland is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #93 of 150 in Tennessee. Cleveland is graded on two of the three inputs. Cleveland’s 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 ($44K–$73K) 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 →
205 community nonprofits are registered in Cleveland
4.2 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 (120 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Cleveland’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 Cleveland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Cleveland Bradley County Public Library serves 111,579 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 58 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cleveland Bradley County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
415K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
169,911 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
2 places to borrow in Cleveland
Cleveland Bradley County Library, 795 Church Street NE, Cleveland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cleveland Bradley County Public Library branch.
New in Cleveland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Cleveland Bradley County Public Library branches in Cleveland
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cleveland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 93,869 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | Cleveland Bradley County Library | — | 70 | C |
| South Cleveland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Cleveland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Hopewell | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Wildwood Lake | 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.
- System-wide. Cleveland Bradley County Public Library serves 111,579 people in and around Cleveland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cleveland.
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 Cleveland
Does Cleveland have a public library?
Yes. Cleveland Bradley County Public Library, 795 Church Street NE, serves 111,579 people in and around Cleveland (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cleveland Bradley County 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 Cleveland’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Cleveland’s civic life grade?
C Cleveland is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Cleveland.
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.