Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Rockwood’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Rockwood Public Library serves 16,475 people in and around Rockwood. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Rockwood’s library
Rockwood Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rockwood Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Rockwood Public Library offered 48 programs last year, 2.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Rockwood Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Rockwood Public Library serves more than Rockwood
The library’s service area covers 16,475 people in and around Rockwood, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rockwood Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% 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.
What’s behind Rockwood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rockwood is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #142 of 150 in Tennessee. Rockwood is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Rockwood’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Rockwood Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Rockwood
1.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.0%
4.0% of Rockwood’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 Rockwood’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rockwood Public Library serves 16,475 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
10,167 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
48 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.
Find it
Rockwood Public Library, 117 North Front Street, Rockwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rockwood? 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 $3.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rockwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $169K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $568K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $169K 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 1,290 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockwood | Rockwood Public Library | 2.2 | 48 | D− |
| Harriman | Harriman Public Library | 1.3 | 45 | D |
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.
- 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 Rockwood
Does Rockwood have a public library?
Yes. Rockwood Public Library, 117 North Front Street, serves 16,475 people in and around Rockwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rockwood 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 Rockwood’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rockwood’s civic life grade?
D− Rockwood is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #142 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 Rockwood.
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.