Photo: GamblinMonkey · Public domainNewbern’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Newbern City Library serves 6,126 people in and around Newbern. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,776 visits.
What Newbern’s library is like
Newbern City Library is used less than most libraries its size
Newbern City Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 70 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Most of Newbern’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Newbern City Library serves more than Newbern
The library’s service area covers 6,126 people in and around Newbern, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
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 Newbern’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newbern is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #52 of 150 in Tennessee. Newbern is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Newbern’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Newbern
1.5 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.
11.4%
11.4% of Newbern’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 Newbern’s residents live; 2022.
55% of borrowing is digital
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
5,688 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Newbern City Library serves 6,126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Newbern City Library, 220 E. Main Street, Newbern.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newbern? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newbern cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $114K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $177K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $114K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 3,804 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Newbern
Does Newbern have a public library?
Yes. Newbern City Library, 220 E. Main Street, serves 6,126 people in and around Newbern (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newbern City Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Newbern’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Newbern’s civic life grade?
B− Newbern is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #52 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 Newbern.
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.