Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Rocky Top’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Rocky Top Public Library serves 6,089 people in and around Rocky Top. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Rocky Top’s library
Most of Rocky Top’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 53% of loans. Print still makes up 47%. What people borrow ↓
Rocky Top Public Library serves more than Rocky Top
The library’s service area covers 6,089 people in and around Rocky Top, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Rocky Top Public Library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, fewer than 90% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Rocky Top Public Library holds 35,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Rocky Top’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rocky Top is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. Rocky Top 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.
Rocky Top Public Library spends $23 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($25K–$41K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Rocky Top
1.6 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.
5.2%
5.2% of Rocky Top’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 Rocky Top’s residents live; 2022.
53% of borrowing is digital
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
6,936 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rocky Top Public Library serves 6,089 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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
Rocky Top Public Library, 226 North Main St., Rocky Top.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rocky Top? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rocky Top cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $140K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $221K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $140K 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 4,172 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 Rocky Top
Does Rocky Top have a public library?
Yes. Rocky Top Public Library, 226 North Main St., serves 6,089 people in and around Rocky Top (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rocky Top 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 Rocky Top’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rocky Top’s civic life grade?
D Rocky Top is ahead of 5% 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 Rocky Top.
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.