Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Lewisburg’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Marshall County Memorial Library serves 36,961 people in and around Lewisburg. Last year it lent 99K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
The short version on Lewisburg’s library
Programs lean toward adults
51% of the 380 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 158 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Marshall County Memorial Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Marshall County Memorial Library serves 36,961 people in and around Lewisburg, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lewisburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lewisburg is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #20 of 150 in Tennessee. Lewisburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lewisburg’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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Lewisburg
5.1 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.7%
7.7% of Lewisburg’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 Lewisburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marshall County Memorial Library serves 36,961 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marshall County Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
99K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
36,305 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Marshall County Memorial Library, 310 Old Farmington Road, Lewisburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marshall County Memorial Library branch.
New in Lewisburg? 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 $3.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lewisburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $438K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $438K 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 17,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Marshall County Memorial Library serves 36,961 people in and around Lewisburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lewisburg.
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 Lewisburg
Does Lewisburg have a public library?
Yes. Marshall County Memorial Library, 310 Old Farmington Road, serves 36,961 people in and around Lewisburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshall County Memorial 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 Lewisburg’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lewisburg’s civic life grade?
B+ Lewisburg is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Lewisburg.
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.