Photo: Nyttend · Public domainLexington’s library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Everett Horn Public Library serves 28,070 people in and around Lexington. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 61K visits.
Lexington’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Everett Horn Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Everett Horn Public Library spends $5 per resident, less than 99% 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; Everett Horn Public Library serves 28,070 people in and around Lexington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lexington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lexington is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #25 of 150 in Tennessee. Lexington is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lexington’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Lexington
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
11.7%
11.7% of Lexington’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 Lexington’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,519 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Everett Horn Public Library serves 28,070 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Everett Horn Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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
Everett Horn Public Library, 702 West Church Street, Lexington.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Everett Horn Public Library branch.
New in Lexington? 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 $6.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lexington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $891K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 10,549 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Everett Horn Public Library serves 28,070 people in and around Lexington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lexington.
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 Lexington
Does Lexington have a public library?
Yes. Everett Horn Public Library, 702 West Church Street, serves 28,070 people in and around Lexington (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Everett Horn 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 Lexington’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lexington’s civic life grade?
B Lexington is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Lexington.
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.