Photo: ThaesOfereode · CC BY-SA 4.0Parsons’ library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Parsons Public Library serves Parsons’s 2,114 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,553 visits.
Parsons’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
53% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 46%. What your card is worth ↓
Busy on a lean budget
Parsons Public Library spends $32 per resident, less than 78% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still borrowed from more than 73% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Parsons Public Library serves 2,114 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Parsons has a card
1,978 cards for 2,114 people, or 94%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Parsons Public Library logs about 26 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 7 public computers. That’s 4.5 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Parsons’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Parsons is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns. Parsons is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Parsons Public Library spends $32 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$45K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Parsons
2.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Parsons’ 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 Parsons’ residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
5,839 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Parsons Public Library serves 2,114 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
25 programs a year
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Parsons last year.
Find it
Parsons Public Library, 535 Tennessee Avenue South, Parsons.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Parsons? 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 $6.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Parsons cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $69K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $418K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69K 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 1,978 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 Parsons
Does Parsons have a public library?
Yes. Parsons Public Library, 535 Tennessee Avenue South, serves Parsons’ 2,114 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Parsons Public 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 Parsons’ library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Parsons’ civic life grade?
C− Parsons is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Parsons.
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.