Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Cookeville’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Putnam County Library serves 83,844 people in and around Cookeville. Last year it lent 345K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
Cookeville’s library, in brief
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Putnam County Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Putnam County Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans, more per resident than at 66% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 58%, 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; Putnam County Library serves 83,844 people in and around Cookeville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Cookeville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cookeville is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #24 of 150 in Tennessee. Cookeville is graded on two of the three inputs. Cookeville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
194 community nonprofits are registered in Cookeville
5.4 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Cookeville’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 Cookeville’s residents live; 2022.
42% of borrowing is digital
345K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
146,488 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 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Putnam County Library serves 83,844 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Putnam County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 18 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
Putnam County Library, 50 East Broad Street, Cookeville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Putnam County Library branch.
New in Cookeville? 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 $4.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cookeville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 25,219 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cookeville | Putnam County Library | — | 60 | B |
| Algood | Algood Branch Library | — | 30 | 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. Putnam County Library serves 83,844 people in and around Cookeville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cookeville.
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 Cookeville
Does Cookeville have a public library?
Yes. Putnam County Library, 50 East Broad Street, serves 83,844 people in and around Cookeville (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Putnam County 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 Cookeville’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cookeville’s civic life grade?
B Cookeville is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Cookeville.
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.