Photo: Garryharvey · Public domainJackson’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Jackson-Madison County Library serves 99,193 people in and around Jackson from 2 locations. Last year it lent 425K books, movies and e-books and logged 171K visits.
What Jackson’s library is like
The branch is a National Register landmark
Jackson Free Library (Additional Documentation) has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. Today’s library there has 30,304 square feet. The buildings ↓
74% of the people it serves carry a library card
73,755 cards for 99,193 people, or 74%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. 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; Jackson-Madison County Library serves 99,193 people in and around Jackson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jackson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jackson is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns, #81 of 150 in Tennessee. Jackson is graded on two of the three inputs. Jackson’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$66K) 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 →
316 community nonprofits are registered in Jackson
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (98 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Jackson’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 Jackson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Jackson-Madison County Library serves 99,193 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson-Madison County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
425K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
130,641 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, 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.
A National Register landmark since 1975
Jackson-Madison County Library, 433 East Lafayette Street, Jackson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson-Madison County Library branch.
New in Jackson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Jackson Free Library (Additional Documentation)
Jackson Free Library (Additional Documentation) was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 26, 1975. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
The Carnegie Center for Arts and History is a museum and events venue in downtown Jackson, Tennessee, housed in the former Jackson Free Library.
More about the building →Other Jackson-Madison County Library branches in Jackson
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jackson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 73,755 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Jackson-Madison County Library serves 99,193 people in and around Jackson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jackson.
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 Jackson
Does Jackson have a public library?
Yes. Jackson-Madison County Library, 433 East Lafayette Street, serves 99,193 people in and around Jackson (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson-Madison County 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 Jackson’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Jackson’s civic life grade?
C Jackson is ahead of 29% of U.S. towns on civic life, #81 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 Jackson.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.