Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sparta’s library logs 3.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
White County Public Library serves 28,692 people in and around Sparta. Last year it lent 84K books, movies and e-books and logged 99K visits.
The short version on Sparta’s library
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans. Print still makes up 56%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
White County Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
81% of the people it serves carry a library card
23,350 cards for 28,692 people, or 81%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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; White County Public Library serves 28,692 people in and around Sparta, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sparta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sparta is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #93 of 150 in Tennessee. Sparta is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sparta’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Sparta
2.2 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Sparta’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 Sparta’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.
White County Public Library serves 28,692 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole White County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
44% of borrowing is digital
84K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
37,150 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
White County Public Library, 11 N. Church Street, Sparta.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every White County Public Library branch.
New in Sparta? 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 $5.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sparta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $324K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $324K 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 23,350 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. White County Public Library serves 28,692 people in and around Sparta, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sparta.
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 Sparta
Does Sparta have a public library?
Yes. White County Public Library, 11 N. Church Street, serves 28,692 people in and around Sparta (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White 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 Sparta’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sparta’s civic life grade?
C Sparta is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Sparta.
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.