Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Knoxville’s library is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which lends more per resident than 64% of systems its size
Knoxville’s library is the Lawson Mcghee Library, a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which serves 500,669 people and lent 3.2M items last year.
Knoxville’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 2,511 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 40 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Knoxville branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
11 branches in Knoxville
Knoxville has 11 branches of the Knox County Public Library System, which serves 500,669 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. 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; Knoxville’s library is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, so they cover the whole system (500,669 people), not just the Knoxville branch.
What’s behind Knoxville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Knoxville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #15 of 150 in Tennessee. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #32. Knoxville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Knoxville’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
920 community nonprofits are registered in Knoxville
4.7 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 (249 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 50 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.7%
8.7% of Knoxville’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 Knoxville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Knox County Public Library System serves 500,669 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 74 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Knox County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,031,878 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 40 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.
11 places to borrow in Knoxville
Lawson Mcghee Library, 500 W. Church Avenue, Knoxville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Knox County Public Library System branch.
New in Knoxville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Knox County Public Library System branches in Knoxville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Knoxville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $51M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 182,573 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knoxville | Lawson Mcghee Library | — | 64 | B+ |
| Powell | Powell Branch Library | — | 53 | — unincorporated |
| Farragut | Farragut Branch Library | — | 55 | B− |
| Halls | Halls Branch Library | — | 53 | — unincorporated |
| Alcoa | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| John Sevier | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Rockford | 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.
- System-wide. Lawson Mcghee Library is one branch of Knox County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 500,669 people it serves.
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 Knoxville
Does Knoxville have a public library?
Yes: Lawson Mcghee Library, 500 W. Church Avenue, is a branch of Knox County Public Library System, which serves 500,669 people. The branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Knox County Public Library System 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 Knoxville’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Knoxville’s civic life grade?
B+ Knoxville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #15 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 Knoxville.
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.