Red Boiling Springs Bank · Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Red Boiling Springs’ library is a branch of Macon County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 91% of systems its size
Red Boiling Springs’s library is the Red Boiling Springs Branch Library, a branch of Macon County Public Library, which serves 26,793 people and lent 48K items last year.
The short version on Red Boiling Springs’s library
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
59% of the 281 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 115 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Macon County Public Library system spends $9 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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; Red Boiling Springs’s library is a branch of Macon County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (26,793 people), not just the Red Boiling Springs branch.
What’s behind Red Boiling Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Red Boiling Springs is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns. Red Boiling Springs 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.
Macon County Public Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$50K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Red Boiling Springs
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Red Boiling Springs’ 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 Red Boiling Springs’ residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
48K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
23,761 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.
Macon County Public Library serves 26,793 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Macon County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
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
Red Boiling Springs Branch Library, 335 E. Main Street, Red Boiling Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Macon County Public Library branch.
New in Red Boiling Springs? 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 $3.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red Boiling Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $240K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $758K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $240K 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 12,923 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Red Boiling Springs Branch Library is one branch of Macon County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 26,793 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 Red Boiling Springs
Does Red Boiling Springs have a public library?
Yes: Red Boiling Springs Branch Library, 335 E. Main Street, is a branch of Macon County Public Library, which serves 26,793 people. The branch is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Macon 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 Red Boiling Springs’ library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Red Boiling Springs’ civic life grade?
D Red Boiling Springs is ahead of 14% 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 Red Boiling Springs.
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.