Rattle and Snap · Photo: National Park Service photographer · Public domainMount Pleasant’s library is a branch of Maury County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size
Mount Pleasant’s library is the Mt. Pleasant Branch Library, a branch of Maury County Public Library, which serves 88,238 people and lent 175K items last year.
What Mount Pleasant’s library is like
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% 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
The Maury County Public Library system spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
65% of the 907 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
The Maury County Public Library system lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 88% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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; Mount Pleasant’s library is a branch of Maury County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (88,238 people), not just the Mount Pleasant branch.
What’s behind Mount Pleasant’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Pleasant is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #36 of 150 in Tennessee. Mount Pleasant is graded on two of the three inputs. Mount Pleasant’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Pleasant
6.0 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Mount Pleasant’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 Mount Pleasant’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
175K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
81,272 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.
Maury County Public Library serves 88,238 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Maury County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 11 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
Mt. Pleasant Branch Library, 200 Hay Long Avenue, Mt Pleasant.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Maury County Public Library branch.
New in Mount Pleasant? 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 $3.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Pleasant cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $928K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $928K 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 20,952 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mt. Pleasant Branch Library is one branch of Maury County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 88,238 people it serves.
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 Mount Pleasant
Does Mount Pleasant have a public library?
Yes: Mt. Pleasant Branch Library, 200 Hay Long Avenue, is a branch of Maury County Public Library, which serves 88,238 people. The branch is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Maury 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 Mount Pleasant’s library?
It logged 3.1 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 Mount Pleasant’s civic life grade?
B− Mount Pleasant is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 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 Mount Pleasant.
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.