Photo: Mrgriffter · CC BY-SA 4.0Johnson City’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Johnson City Public Library serves Johnson City’s 73,337 residents. Last year it lent 712K books, movies and e-books and logged 246K visits.
What Johnson City’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 1,464 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 16 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 69% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Johnson City last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Johnson City Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 210 items go out. The buildings ↓
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 Johnson City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnson City is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #67 of 150 in Tennessee. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Johnson City’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
184 community nonprofits are registered in Johnson City
2.6 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 (60 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.5%
7.5% of Johnson City’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 Johnson City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Johnson City Public Library serves 73,337 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 210 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
712K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 139K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
231,168 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 24 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Johnson City last year.
2 places to borrow in Johnson City
Johnson City Public Library, 100 West Millard Street, Johnson City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Johnson City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Johnson City
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnson City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 42,332 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson City | Johnson City Public Library | 9.7 | 65 | C |
| Elizabethton | Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library fine-free | — | 59 | C+ |
| Gray | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Pine Crest | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Oak Grove | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Spurgeon | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Central | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Watauga | 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 Johnson City
Does Johnson City have a public library?
Yes. Johnson City Public Library, 100 West Millard Street, serves Johnson City’s 73,337 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Johnson City 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 Johnson City’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Johnson City’s civic life grade?
C Johnson City is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 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 Johnson City.
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.