Photo: Skye Marthaler · CC BY-SA 3.0Selmer’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library serves 17,418 people in and around Selmer. Last year it lent 37K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Selmer’s library is like
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $9 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
16,959 cards for 17,418 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 55% of loans. Print still makes up 45%. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
80% of the 139 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library offered 139 programs last year, 8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
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; Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library serves 17,418 people in and around Selmer, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Selmer’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Selmer is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #108 of 150 in Tennessee. Selmer is graded on two of the three inputs. Selmer’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$64K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Selmer
4.2 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Selmer’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 Selmer’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library serves 17,418 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
55% of borrowing is digital
37K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
20,569 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library, 225 Oak Grove Rd., Selmer.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library branch.
New in Selmer? 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 $4.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Selmer cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $155K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $644K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $155K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 16,959 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selmer | Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library fine-free | — | 46 | C− |
| Eastview | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bethel Springs | 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. Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library serves 17,418 people in and around Selmer, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Selmer.
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 Selmer
Does Selmer have a public library?
Yes. Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library, 225 Oak Grove Rd., serves 17,418 people in and around Selmer (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jack Mcconnico Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Selmer’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Selmer’s civic life grade?
C− Selmer is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Selmer.
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.