Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Newport’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Stokely Memorial Library serves 30,672 people in and around Newport. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
The short version on Newport’s library
Stokely Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Stokely Memorial Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $4 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
30,158 cards for 30,672 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Stokely Memorial Library offered 138 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Stokely Memorial Library spends $4 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 138 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 45 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; Stokely Memorial Library serves 30,672 people in and around Newport, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Newport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newport is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #109 of 150 in Tennessee. Newport is graded on two of the three inputs. Newport’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Stokely Memorial Library spends $4 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($23K–$39K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Newport
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.0%
4.0% of Newport’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 Newport’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Stokely Memorial Library serves 30,672 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stokely Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,389 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Find it
Stokely Memorial Library, 383 East Broadway, Newport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stokely Memorial Library branch.
New in Newport? 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 $8.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $122K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $122K 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 30,158 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stokely Memorial Library serves 30,672 people in and around Newport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Newport.
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 Newport
Does Newport have a public library?
Yes. Stokely Memorial Library, 383 East Broadway, serves 30,672 people in and around Newport (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stokely Memorial 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 Newport’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Newport’s civic life grade?
C− Newport is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 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 Newport.
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.