Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Erwin’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Unicoi County Public Library serves 17,756 people in and around Erwin. Last year it lent 54K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
The short version on Erwin’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
57% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 42%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 303 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 80 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Unicoi County Public Library serves 17,756 people in and around Erwin, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Erwin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Erwin is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #22 of 150 in Tennessee. Erwin 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Erwin
4.0 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 (3 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.
8.8%
8.8% of Erwin’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 Erwin’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Unicoi County Public Library serves 17,756 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Unicoi County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
54K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,237 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Unicoi County Public Library, 201 Nolichucky Avenue, Erwin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Unicoi County Public Library branch.
New in Erwin? 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 $2.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Erwin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $299K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $848K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $299K 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 10,620 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erwin | Unicoi County Public Library | — | 43 | B+ |
| Banner Hill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Unicoi County Public Library serves 17,756 people in and around Erwin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Erwin.
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 Erwin
Does Erwin have a public library?
Yes. Unicoi County Public Library, 201 Nolichucky Avenue, serves 17,756 people in and around Erwin (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Unicoi County Public 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 Erwin’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Erwin’s civic life grade?
B+ Erwin is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Erwin.
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.