Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Dresden’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library serves 14,103 people in and around Dresden. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Dresden’s library is like
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
74% of the people it serves carry a library card
10,494 cards for 14,103 people, or 74%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library serves 14,103 people in and around Dresden, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dresden’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dresden is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #2 of 150 in Tennessee. Dresden is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Dresden’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Dresden
8.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Dresden’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 Dresden’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library serves 14,103 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,297 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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
Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library, 341 Linden Street, Dresden.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library branch.
New in Dresden? 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 $2.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dresden cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $276K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $693K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $276K 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 10,494 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library serves 14,103 people in and around Dresden, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dresden.
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 Dresden
Does Dresden have a public library?
Yes. Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley County Library, 341 Linden Street, serves 14,103 people in and around Dresden (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ned R. Mcwherter Weakley 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 Dresden’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dresden’s civic life grade?
A Dresden is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Dresden.
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.