Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Franklin’s library lends 5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Williamson County Public Library serves 161,569 people in and around Franklin. Last year it lent 1.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 304K visits.
Franklin’s library, in brief
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Franklin branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 1,509 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 15 a week for ages 0–5. 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; Williamson County Public Library serves 161,569 people in and around Franklin, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Franklin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns, #16 of 150 in Tennessee. Franklin is graded on two of the three inputs. Franklin’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
542 community nonprofits are registered in Franklin
6.2 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 (189 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 28 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Franklin’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 Franklin’s residents live; 2022.
About 20 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Williamson County Public Library serves 161,569 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Williamson County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
491,580 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Williamson County Public Library, 1314 Columbia Ave, Franklin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Williamson County Public Library branch.
New in Franklin? 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 $5.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 33,483 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | The John P. Holt Brentwood Library | 15.0 | 66 | A− |
| Franklin | Williamson County Public Library | — | 64 | B+ |
| Thompson's Station | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Williamson County Public Library serves 161,569 people in and around Franklin, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Franklin.
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 Franklin
Does Franklin have a public library?
Yes. Williamson County Public Library, 1314 Columbia Ave, serves 161,569 people in and around Franklin (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Williamson 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 Franklin’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 8.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Franklin’s civic life grade?
B+ Franklin is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life, #16 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 Franklin.
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.