Whitaker-Motlow House · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Lynchburg’s library runs 87 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Moore County Public Library serves 6,748 people in and around Lynchburg. Last year it lent 40K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,860 visits.
What stands out about Moore County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lynchburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lynchburg is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #35 of 150 in Tennessee. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Lynchburg
3.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
17.7%
17.7% of Lynchburg’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 Lynchburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Moore County Public Library serves 6,748 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Moore County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
49% of borrowing is digital
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,642 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Moore County Public Library, 17 Lynchburg Hwy., Lynchburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Moore County Public Library branch.
New in Lynchburg? 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 $4.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lynchburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $173K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $706K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $173K 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 2,073 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynchburg | Moore County Public Library fine-free | — | 35 | B− |
| Tullahoma | Coffee County Lannom Memorial Public Library | — | 64 | A |
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. Moore County Public Library serves 6,748 people in and around Lynchburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lynchburg.
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 Lynchburg
Does Lynchburg have a public library?
Yes. Moore County Public Library, 17 Lynchburg Hwy., serves 6,748 people in and around Lynchburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moore County 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 Lynchburg’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lynchburg’s civic life grade?
B− Lynchburg is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 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 Lynchburg.
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.