Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Trenton’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Gibson County Memorial Library serves 22,970 people in and around Trenton. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What Trenton’s library is like
Gibson County Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Gibson County Memorial Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Gibson County Memorial Library spends $11 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; Gibson County Memorial Library serves 22,970 people in and around Trenton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Trenton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Trenton is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #126 of 150 in Tennessee. Trenton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Trenton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Gibson County Memorial Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) 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 Trenton
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 Trenton’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 Trenton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Gibson County Memorial Library serves 22,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gibson County Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,831 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, 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
Gibson County Memorial Library, 303 S. High Street, Trenton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Gibson County Memorial Library branch.
New in Trenton? 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 $2.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Trenton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $241K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $626K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $241K 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 1,541 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Gibson County Memorial Library serves 22,970 people in and around Trenton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Trenton.
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 Trenton
Does Trenton have a public library?
Yes. Gibson County Memorial Library, 303 S. High Street, serves 22,970 people in and around Trenton (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gibson County Memorial 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 Trenton’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Trenton’s civic life grade?
D Trenton is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Trenton.
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.