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Halls Branch Library · part of Knox County Public Library System

Halls’ library is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 64% of systems its size

Halls’s library is the Halls Branch Library, a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which serves 500,669 people and lent 3.2M items last year.

4518 East Emory Road, Knoxville 37938 · about 53 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: unincorporated places have too few inputs
Borrowed a year
3.2M
6.4 per resident
Visits a year
1M
2.1 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
2,511
about 48 a week · 89K attended
Cardholders
36%
182,573 cards
Open
53 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Halls Branch Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Halls’ civic life grade

Halls isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Halls’ overall grade.

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 →

Places to belong

Volunteering in Halls

Halls is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.

Volunteering

7.8%

7.8% of Halls’ 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 Halls’ residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.1 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 51%
Borrowing per resident 4.3 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 64%
Digital borrowing 2.1 e-items · typical 1.4Higher than 64%
Kids’ borrowing 2.5 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 69%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 62%
Programs offered 5 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 83%
Cardholders 36% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 60%
Spending $30 per resident · typical $36Lower than 58%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Knox County Public Library System serves 500,669 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 74 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Knox County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.

1M
visits
2.1 per resident
3.2M
loans, print + digital
6.4 per resident
2,511
programs & events
89K attended
183K
library cards
36% of people served
Every open hour74items borrowed
Every week1,704people at a program
Every day3,897Wi-Fi sessions
169 staff (full-time equivalent)166 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

3.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

3.2Mloans
Books & media (adults) 29%Kids’ books & media 39%E-books, audio & streaming 32%
From your couch

1,031,878 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 40 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Halls →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–52,098
Ages 6–110
Teens56
Adults357
All ages0
Little ones
40.3

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

1.2M
kids’ books & media borrowed
89K
people at programs
2,511
programs
The building

Find it

Halls Branch Library, 4518 East Emory Road, Knoxville.

53
hours open a week
11,586
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Knox County Public Library System branch.

New in Halls? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.41 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Halls cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$30 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.

Local taxes 95%State 3%Federal 0%Gifts & other 2%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $51M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 182,573 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
HallsHalls Branch Library—53— unincorporated
KnoxvilleLawson Mcghee Library—64B+

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Halls Branch Library is one branch of Knox County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 500,669 people it serves.

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 Halls

Does Halls have a public library?

Yes: Halls Branch Library, 4518 East Emory Road, is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which serves 500,669 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Knox County Public Library System 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 Halls’ library?

It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Halls’ civic life grade?

Halls isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Halls.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.