Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Sneedville’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hancock County Public Library serves 6,956 people in and around Sneedville. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,342 visits.
Sneedville’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Hancock County Public Library offered 1 programs last year, 0.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Hancock County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Hancock County Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Hancock County Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 95% 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; Hancock County Public Library serves 6,956 people in and around Sneedville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sneedville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sneedville is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. Sneedville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sneedville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Hancock County Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($18K–$31K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Sneedville
3.1 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.3%
2.3% of Sneedville’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 Sneedville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hancock County Public Library serves 6,956 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hancock County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,676 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
1 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Hancock County Public Library, 138 Willow Street, Sneedville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hancock County Public Library branch.
New in Sneedville? 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 $4.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sneedville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $72K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $296K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $72K 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 4,131 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hancock County Public Library serves 6,956 people in and around Sneedville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sneedville.
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 Sneedville
Does Sneedville have a public library?
Yes. Hancock County Public Library, 138 Willow Street, serves 6,956 people in and around Sneedville (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hancock County Public 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 Sneedville’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sneedville’s civic life grade?
D Sneedville is ahead of 9% 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 Sneedville.
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.