Photo: Excel23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Goodlettsville’s library runs 26 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Nashville Public Library serves 712,334 people in and around Goodlettsville. Last year it lent 8.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 2.8M visits.
Goodlettsville’s library, in brief
Most of Goodlettsville’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 61% of loans, more per resident than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 39%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Nashville Public Library ran 18,652 programs last year, about 359 a week. That’s 26 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 332,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Goodlettsville out-borrows every town next door
At 11.8 loans per resident, Goodlettsville leads the four towns here. The closest is Nashville, at 11.8. Libraries next door ↓
People come to Nashville Public Library a lot
Nashville Public Library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nashville Public Library serves more than Goodlettsville
The library’s service area covers 712,334 people in and around Goodlettsville, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Goodlettsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Goodlettsville is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #97 of 150 in Tennessee. Goodlettsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Goodlettsville
2.7 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Goodlettsville’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 Goodlettsville’s residents live; 2022.
About 146 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Nashville Public Library serves 712,334 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 166 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
61% of borrowing is digital
8.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 1.3M books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
5,120,861 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Goodlettsville Branch Library, 205 Rivergate Parkway, Goodlettsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Goodlettsville? 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 $2.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goodlettsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $53M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $129M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53M 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 305,583 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Goodlettsville borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodlettsville | Goodlettsville Branch Library fine-free | 11.8 | 44 | C− |
| Nashville | Nashville Public Library fine-free | 11.8 | 53 | B− |
| Hendersonville | Hendersonville Public Library of Sumner County | 2.6 | 40 | C |
| Millersville | Millersville Public Library of Sumner County | 1.4 | 40 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Goodlettsville
Does Goodlettsville have a public library?
Yes. Nashville Public Library, 205 Rivergate Parkway, serves 712,334 people in and around Goodlettsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nashville 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 Goodlettsville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Goodlettsville’s civic life grade?
C− Goodlettsville is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 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 Goodlettsville.
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.