Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Livingston’s library runs 7.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Millard Oakley Public Library serves 23,327 people in and around Livingston. Last year it lent 67K books, movies and e-books and logged 73K visits.
The short version on Livingston’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Millard Oakley Public Library offered 173 programs last year, 7.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 173 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 64 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Millard Oakley Public Library spends $9 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Millard Oakley Public Library serves 23,327 people in and around Livingston, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Livingston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Livingston is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #90 of 150 in Tennessee. Livingston is graded on two of the three inputs. Livingston’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$49K) 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Livingston
3.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Livingston’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 Livingston’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Millard Oakley Public Library serves 23,327 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Millard Oakley Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
67K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
25,692 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Millard Oakley Public Library, 107 East Main Street, Livingston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Millard Oakley Public Library branch.
New in Livingston? 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 $5.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Livingston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $218K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $218K 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 11,913 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Millard Oakley Public Library serves 23,327 people in and around Livingston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Livingston.
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 Livingston
Does Livingston have a public library?
Yes. Millard Oakley Public Library, 107 East Main Street, serves 23,327 people in and around Livingston (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Millard Oakley Public 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 Livingston’s library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Livingston’s civic life grade?
C Livingston is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #90 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 Livingston.
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.