Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Somerville’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Somerville-Fayette County Library serves 44,175 people in and around Somerville. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
The short version on Somerville’s library
Somerville-Fayette County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Somerville-Fayette County Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 149 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Somerville-Fayette County Library offered 149 programs last year, 3.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% 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
Somerville-Fayette County Library spends $6 per resident, less than 99% 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; Somerville-Fayette County Library serves 44,175 people in and around Somerville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Somerville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Somerville is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #69 of 150 in Tennessee. Somerville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Somerville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Somerville
3.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.7%
6.7% of Somerville’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 Somerville’s residents live; 2022.
56% of borrowing is digital
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,347 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.
Somerville-Fayette County Library serves 44,175 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Somerville-Fayette 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
Somerville-Fayette County Library, 216 W. Market Street, Somerville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Somerville-Fayette County Library branch.
New in Somerville? 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 $3.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Somerville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $284K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $284K 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 8,673 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Somerville-Fayette County Library serves 44,175 people in and around Somerville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Somerville.
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 Somerville
Does Somerville have a public library?
Yes. Somerville-Fayette County Library, 216 W. Market Street, serves 44,175 people in and around Somerville (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Somerville-Fayette 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 Somerville’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Somerville’s civic life grade?
C Somerville is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #69 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 Somerville.
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.