Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Decatur’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Meigs-Decatur Public Library serves 13,691 people in and around Decatur. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,841 visits.
The short version on Decatur’s library
Meigs-Decatur Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Meigs-Decatur Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Meigs-Decatur Public Library spends $6 per resident, less than 99% 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; Meigs-Decatur Public Library serves 13,691 people in and around Decatur, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Decatur’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Decatur is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns. Decatur is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Decatur’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Decatur
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Decatur’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 Decatur’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Meigs-Decatur Public Library serves 13,691 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Meigs-Decatur Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Meigs-Decatur Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,073 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
231 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
Meigs-Decatur Public Library, 120 Memorial Drive, Decatur.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Meigs-Decatur Public Library branch.
New in Decatur? 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 $5.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Decatur cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $84K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $452K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $84K 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 2,609 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Meigs-Decatur Public Library serves 13,691 people in and around Decatur, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Decatur.
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 Decatur
Does Decatur have a public library?
Yes. Meigs-Decatur Public Library, 120 Memorial Drive, serves 13,691 people in and around Decatur (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Meigs-Decatur 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 Decatur’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Decatur’s civic life grade?
C Decatur is ahead of 29% 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 Decatur.
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.