Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0La Follette’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lafollette Public Library serves 22,123 people in and around La Follette. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,160 visits.
La Follette’s library, in brief
Lafollette Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lafollette Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 50 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 6 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lafollette Public Library offered 50 programs last year, 2.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Lafollette Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Lafollette Public Library serves more than La Follette
The library’s service area covers 22,123 people in and around La Follette, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. 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 La Follette’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, La Follette is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #138 of 150 in Tennessee. La Follette is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Lafollette Public Library spends $6 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$47K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in La Follette
1.7 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of La Follette’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 La Follette’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
6,922 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lafollette Public Library serves 22,123 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
50 programs a year
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
Lafollette Public Library, 201 South 9th Street, Lafollette.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in La Follette? 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 $1.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Follette cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $125K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $248K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $125K 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 2,654 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Follette | Lafollette Public Library | 0.7 | 45 | D |
| Jacksboro | Jacksboro Public Library | — | 40 | D |
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 La Follette
Does La Follette have a public library?
Yes. Lafollette Public Library, 201 South 9th Street, serves 22,123 people in and around La Follette (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lafollette 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 La Follette’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is La Follette’s civic life grade?
D La Follette is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #138 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 La Follette.
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.