Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Hohenwald’s library runs 11 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Lewis County Public Library serves 13,066 people in and around Hohenwald. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
What Hohenwald’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 139 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 69% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
11,594 cards for 13,066 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lewis County 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; Lewis County Public Library serves 13,066 people in and around Hohenwald, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hohenwald’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hohenwald is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns, #3 of 150 in Tennessee. Hohenwald is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Hohenwald
4.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.1%
13.1% of Hohenwald’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 Hohenwald’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lewis County Public Library serves 13,066 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lewis County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
51% of borrowing is digital
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
23,342 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Lewis County Public Library, 15 Kyle Avenue, Hohenwald.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lewis County Public Library branch.
New in Hohenwald? 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 $5.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hohenwald cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $150K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $826K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $150K 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 11,594 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lewis County Public Library serves 13,066 people in and around Hohenwald, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hohenwald.
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 Hohenwald
Does Hohenwald have a public library?
Yes. Lewis County Public Library, 15 Kyle Avenue, serves 13,066 people in and around Hohenwald (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lewis 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 Hohenwald’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hohenwald’s civic life grade?
A Hohenwald is ahead of 91% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Hohenwald.
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.