Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki (thomasmachnitzki.com) · CC BY 3.0Ripley’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lauderdale County Library serves 19,424 people in and around Ripley. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,596 visits.
What Ripley’s library is like
Lauderdale County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lauderdale County Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $8 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lauderdale County Library offered 53 programs last year, 2.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 58% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lauderdale County Library spends $8 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Lauderdale County Library serves 19,424 people in and around Ripley, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Ripley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ripley is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #83 of 150 in Tennessee. Ripley is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Ripley’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$47K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Ripley
2.2 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.
7.8%
7.8% of Ripley’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 Ripley’s residents live; 2022.
58% of borrowing is digital
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,075 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 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lauderdale County Library serves 19,424 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lauderdale County Library system. The library’s own count.
53 programs a year
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
Lauderdale County Library, 120 Lafayette Street, Ripley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lauderdale County Library branch.
New in Ripley? 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 $2.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ripley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $320K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 12,065 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ripley | Lauderdale County Library | — | 50 | C |
| Henning | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Lauderdale County Library serves 19,424 people in and around Ripley, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Ripley.
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 Ripley
Does Ripley have a public library?
Yes. Lauderdale County Library, 120 Lafayette Street, serves 19,424 people in and around Ripley (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lauderdale County 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 Ripley’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Ripley’s civic life grade?
C Ripley is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #83 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 Ripley.
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.