Photo: GamblinMonkey · Public domainDyersburg’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Mciver's Grant Public Library serves 29,837 people in and around Dyersburg. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What Dyersburg’s library is like
Mciver's Grant Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mciver's Grant Public Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 19% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 399 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 86 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mciver's Grant Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Mciver's Grant Public Library serves 29,837 people in and around Dyersburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dyersburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dyersburg is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #11 of 150 in Tennessee. Dyersburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Dyersburg
4.5 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 (37 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.7%
9.7% of Dyersburg’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 Dyersburg’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,554 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mciver's Grant Public Library serves 29,837 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mciver's Grant Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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
Mciver's Grant Public Library, 410 West Court Street, Dyersburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mciver's Grant Public Library branch.
New in Dyersburg? 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 $3.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dyersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $331K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $331K 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 5,658 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mciver's Grant Public Library serves 29,837 people in and around Dyersburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dyersburg.
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 Dyersburg
Does Dyersburg have a public library?
Yes. Mciver's Grant Public Library, 410 West Court Street, serves 29,837 people in and around Dyersburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mciver's Grant 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 Dyersburg’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Dyersburg’s civic life grade?
A− Dyersburg is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Dyersburg.
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.