Sequatchie County Courthouse · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Dunlap’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Sequatchie County Public Library serves 17,161 people in and around Dunlap. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Dunlap’s library
Sequatchie County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sequatchie County Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans, more per resident than at 60% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sequatchie County Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 97% 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; Sequatchie County Public Library serves 17,161 people in and around Dunlap, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dunlap’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dunlap is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #111 of 150 in Tennessee. Dunlap is graded on two of the three inputs. Dunlap’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Sequatchie County Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$57K) 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Dunlap
3.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.2%
4.2% of Dunlap’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 Dunlap’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,357 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sequatchie County Public Library serves 17,161 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sequatchie County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Sequatchie County Public Library, 227 Cherry Street, Dunlap.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sequatchie County Public Library branch.
New in Dunlap? 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 $4.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dunlap cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $166K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $706K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $166K 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 7,574 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sequatchie County Public Library serves 17,161 people in and around Dunlap, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dunlap.
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 Dunlap
Does Dunlap have a public library?
Yes. Sequatchie County Public Library, 227 Cherry Street, serves 17,161 people in and around Dunlap (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sequatchie 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 Dunlap’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dunlap’s civic life grade?
C− Dunlap is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #111 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 Dunlap.
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.