Photo: AppalachianCentrist · CC BY-SA 4.0Rutledge’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Rutledge Public Library serves 6,911 people in and around Rutledge. Last year it lent 4,623 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,267 visits.
The short version on Rutledge’s library
Rutledge Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rutledge Public Library records 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $4 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 62% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rutledge Public Library spends $4 per resident, less than 99% 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; Rutledge Public Library serves 6,911 people in and around Rutledge, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rutledge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rutledge is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. Rutledge is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Rutledge’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Rutledge Public Library spends $4 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 Rutledge
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
4.5%
4.5% of Rutledge’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 Rutledge’s residents live; 2022.
62% of borrowing is digital
4,623 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,850 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rutledge Public Library serves 6,911 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rutledge Public Library system. The library’s own count.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Rutledge Public Library, 7709 Rutledge Pike, Rutledge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rutledge Public Library branch.
New in Rutledge? 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 $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rutledge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $30K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $74K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $30K 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 1,028 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Rutledge Public Library serves 6,911 people in and around Rutledge, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rutledge.
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 Rutledge
Does Rutledge have a public library?
Yes. Rutledge Public Library, 7709 Rutledge Pike, serves 6,911 people in and around Rutledge (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rutledge 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 Rutledge’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rutledge’s civic life grade?
D− Rutledge 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 Rutledge.
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.