Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Kingston’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Kingston Public Library serves 18,180 people in and around Kingston. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Kingston’s library is like
Kingston Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Kingston Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 69 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 42 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Kingston Public Library offered 69 programs last year, 3.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most of Kingston’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 60% of loans, more per resident than at 74% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 40%. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Kingston Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. 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.
What’s behind Kingston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kingston is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #106 of 150 in Tennessee. Kingston is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Kingston’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Kingston Public Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Kingston
3.2 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Kingston’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 Kingston’s residents live; 2022.
60% of borrowing is digital
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
35,865 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kingston Public Library serves 18,180 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 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
Kingston Public Library, 1004 Bradford Way, Kingston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kingston? 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 $4.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kingston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $219K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $926K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $219K 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 1,741 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Kingston
Does Kingston have a public library?
Yes. Kingston Public Library, 1004 Bradford Way, serves 18,180 people in and around Kingston (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kingston 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 Kingston’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kingston’s civic life grade?
C− Kingston is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #106 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 Kingston.
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.