Hermitage Hotel · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Nashville’s library runs 26 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Nashville Public Library serves 712,334 people in and around Nashville from 21 locations. Last year it lent 8.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 2.8M visits.
Nashville’s library, in brief
Most of Nashville’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 61% of loans, more per resident than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 39%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Nashville Public Library ran 18,652 programs last year, about 359 a week. That’s 26 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 332,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
21 places to borrow in Nashville
Nashville Public Library runs 21 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
People come to Nashville Public Library a lot
Nashville Public Library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Nashville invests in its library
Nashville Public Library spends $75 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. 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.
What’s behind Nashville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Nashville is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #47 of 150 in Tennessee. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #105. Library visits hold 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 →
2,782 community nonprofits are registered in Nashville
3.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (688 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 163 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Nashville’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 Nashville’s residents live; 2022.
About 146 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Nashville Public Library serves 712,334 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 166 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
61% of borrowing is digital
8.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 1.3M books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
5,120,861 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
21 places to borrow in Nashville
Nashville Public Library, 615 Church Street, Nashville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Nashville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Nashville
And 8 more in Nashville.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nashville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $53M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $129M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53M 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 305,583 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Nashville ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentwood | The John P. Holt Brentwood Library | 15.0 | 66 | A− |
| Nashville | Nashville Public Library fine-free | 11.8 | 53 | B− |
| Goodlettsville | Goodlettsville Branch Library fine-free | 11.8 | 44 | C− |
| Mount Juliet | Mt. Juliet-Wilson County Public Library | 5.6 | 60 | A− |
| Hendersonville | Hendersonville Public Library of Sumner County | 2.6 | 40 | C |
| Millersville | Millersville Public Library of Sumner County | 1.4 | 40 | C |
| La Vergne | La Vergne Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 54 | D− |
| Ashland City | Cheatham County Public Library fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Rural Hill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Green Hill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Coopertown | None of its own | — | — | C |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Nashville
Does Nashville have a public library?
Yes. Nashville Public Library, 615 Church Street, serves 712,334 people in and around Nashville (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nashville 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 Nashville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Nashville’s civic life grade?
B− Nashville is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #47 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 Nashville.
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.