Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Halls’ library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Halls Public Library serves 5,186 people in and around Halls. Last year it lent 7,140 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,720 visits.
What Halls’s library is like
Halls Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Halls Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 70 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 19 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Halls Public Library serves more than Halls
The library’s service area covers 5,186 people in and around Halls, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Halls Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Halls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Halls is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns. Halls is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Halls’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Halls
1.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.8%
14.8% 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.
48% of borrowing is digital
7,140 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
3,455 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Halls Public Library serves 5,186 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Halls Public Library, 110 North Church Street, Halls.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Halls? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Halls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $61K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $175K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $61K 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 1,195 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halls | Halls Public Library | 1.4 | 30 | B |
| Gates | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Halls
Does Halls have a public library?
Yes. Halls Public Library, 110 North Church Street, serves 5,186 people in and around Halls (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Halls 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 Halls’ library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Halls’ civic life grade?
B Halls is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Halls.
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.