Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki · CC BY 3.0Germantown’s library logs 5.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Germantown Community Library serves Germantown’s 40,267 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 403K books, movies and e-books and logged 206K visits.
What stands out about Germantown’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Germantown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Germantown is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #8 of 150 in Tennessee. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Germantown’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 →
241 community nonprofits are registered in Germantown
5.9 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 (55 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.4%
9.4% of Germantown’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 Germantown’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Germantown Community Library serves 40,267 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 104 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
403K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 144K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
90,081 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
2 places to borrow in Germantown
Germantown Community Library, 1925 Exeter Road, Germantown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Germantown? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Germantown
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Germantown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 9,412 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germantown | Germantown Community Library | 10.0 | 56 | A |
| Collierville | Lucius E. and Elsie C. Burch Jr. Library | 8.8 | 57 | B− |
| Memphis | Memphis Public Library and Information Center fine-free | — | 60 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Germantown Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Germantown
Does Germantown have a public library?
Yes. Germantown Community Library, 1925 Exeter Road, serves Germantown’s 40,267 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Germantown Community 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 Germantown’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Germantown’s civic life grade?
A Germantown is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Germantown.
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.