Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sweetwater’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sweetwater Public Library serves 22,384 people in and around Sweetwater. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
What Sweetwater’s library is like
Sweetwater Public Library serves more than Sweetwater
The library’s service area covers 22,384 people in and around Sweetwater, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 332 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sweetwater Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 97% 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.
What’s behind Sweetwater’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sweetwater is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #136 of 150 in Tennessee. Sweetwater is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sweetwater’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Sweetwater Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$57K) 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Sweetwater
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Sweetwater’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 Sweetwater’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sweetwater Public Library serves 22,384 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
10,373 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Sweetwater Public Library, 210 Mayes Avenue, Sweetwater.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sweetwater? 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 $2.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sweetwater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $214K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $542K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $214K 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 12,408 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Sweetwater
Does Sweetwater have a public library?
Yes. Sweetwater Public Library, 210 Mayes Avenue, serves 22,384 people in and around Sweetwater (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sweetwater 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 Sweetwater’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sweetwater’s civic life grade?
D Sweetwater is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #136 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 Sweetwater.
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.