Photo: Hmil6 · CC BY-SA 4.0Columbia’s library logs 3.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Maury County Public Library serves 88,238 people in and around Columbia. Last year it lent 175K books, movies and e-books and logged 275K visits.
What Columbia’s library is like
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Maury County Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 907 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Maury County Public Library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 88% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; Maury County Public Library serves 88,238 people in and around Columbia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Columbia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #60 of 150 in Tennessee. Columbia is graded on two of the three inputs. Columbia’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 ($48K–$80K) 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 →
220 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia
4.8 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 (67 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Columbia’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 Columbia’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
175K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
81,272 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Maury County Public Library serves 88,238 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Maury County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 11 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
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Maury County Public Library, 211 West Eighth Street, Columbia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Maury County Public Library branch.
New in Columbia? 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 $3.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $928K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $928K 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 20,952 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Hill | Spring Hill Public Library | 6.7 | 57 | B− |
| Columbia | Maury County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | C+ |
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. Maury County Public Library serves 88,238 people in and around Columbia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Columbia.
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 Columbia
Does Columbia have a public library?
Yes. Maury County Public Library, 211 West Eighth Street, serves 88,238 people in and around Columbia (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Maury 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 Columbia’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Columbia’s civic life grade?
C+ Columbia is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 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 Columbia.
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.