Photo: Brent Moore · CC BY 2.0Sevierville’s library runs 24 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Sevier County Public Library System serves 89,357 people in and around Sevierville from 2 locations. Last year it lent 377K books, movies and e-books and logged 229K visits.
What stands out about Sevier County Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sevierville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sevierville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #88 of 150 in Tennessee. Sevierville is graded on two of the three inputs. Sevierville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$66K) 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Sevierville
3.9 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 (31 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Sevierville’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 Sevierville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Sevier County Public Library System serves 89,357 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sevier County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
377K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
108,480 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 25 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.
2 places to borrow in Sevierville
Sevier County Public Library, 408 High Street, Sevierville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sevier County Public Library System branch.
New in Sevierville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sevier County Public Library System branches in Sevierville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sevierville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 72,149 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sevierville | Sevier County Public Library | — | 60 | C |
| Pigeon Forge | Pigeon Forge Public Library | — | 61 | C |
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. Sevier County Public Library System serves 89,357 people in and around Sevierville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sevierville.
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 Sevierville
Does Sevierville have a public library?
Yes. Sevier County Public Library System, 408 High Street, serves 89,357 people in and around Sevierville (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sevier County Public Library System 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 Sevierville’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sevierville’s civic life grade?
C Sevierville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 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 Sevierville.
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.