Photo: Ballinindasierra · CC BY-SA 4.0Savannah’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Hardin County Library serves 27,229 people in and around Savannah. Last year it lent 70K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Savannah’s library
Hardin County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Hardin County Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% 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
Hardin County Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% 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; Hardin County Library serves 27,229 people in and around Savannah, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Savannah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Savannah is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #47 of 150 in Tennessee. Savannah is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Savannah’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Savannah
2.9 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Savannah’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 Savannah’s residents live; 2022.
44% of borrowing is digital
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
30,723 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hardin County Library serves 27,229 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hardin County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 3 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
Hardin County Library, 1365 Pickwick Street, Savannah.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hardin County Library branch.
New in Savannah? 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 $3.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Savannah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $352K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $352K 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 10,332 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savannah | Hardin County Library | — | 48 | B− |
| Olivet | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Hardin County Library serves 27,229 people in and around Savannah, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Savannah.
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 Savannah
Does Savannah have a public library?
Yes. Hardin County Library, 1365 Pickwick Street, serves 27,229 people in and around Savannah (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hardin 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 Savannah’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Savannah’s civic life grade?
B− Savannah is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #47 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 Savannah.
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.