Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0McMinnville’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Magness Community House & Library serves 42,638 people in and around McMinnville. Last year it lent 67K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
The short version on McMinnville’s library
Magness Community House & Library is used less than most libraries its size
Magness Community House & Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $7 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Magness Community House & Library offered 152 programs last year, 3.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 66%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 152 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Magness Community House & Library serves 42,638 people in and around McMinnville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind McMinnville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, McMinnville is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #7 of 150 in Tennessee. McMinnville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in McMinnville
4.1 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.8%
16.8% of McMinnville’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 McMinnville’s residents live; 2022.
56% of borrowing is digital
67K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
37,235 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Magness Community House & Library serves 42,638 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Magness Community House & 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.
A National Register landmark since 1993
Magness Community House & Library, 118 West Main Street, Mcminnville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Magness Community House & Library branch.
New in McMinnville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Magness, William H. and Edgar, Community House and Library
Magness, William H. and Edgar, Community House and Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 4, 1993. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McMinnville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $312K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $312K 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 21,281 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Magness Community House & Library serves 42,638 people in and around McMinnville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just McMinnville.
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 McMinnville
Does McMinnville have a public library?
Yes. Magness Community House & Library, 118 West Main Street, serves 42,638 people in and around McMinnville (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Magness Community House & 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 McMinnville’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is McMinnville’s civic life grade?
A McMinnville is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 McMinnville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.