Photo: Nyttend · Public domainUnion City’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Obion County Public Library serves 30,411 people in and around Union City. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
What Union City’s library is like
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
26,191 cards for 30,411 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans. Print still makes up 55%. What people borrow ↓
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; Obion County Public Library serves 30,411 people in and around Union City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Union City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Union City is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #134 of 150 in Tennessee. Union City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Union City’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Obion County Public Library spends $24 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Union City
2.7 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.4%
3.4% of Union City’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 Union City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Obion County Public Library serves 30,411 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Obion County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
45% of borrowing is digital
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
35,821 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Obion County Public Library, 1221 East Reelfoot Avenue, Union City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Obion County Public Library branch.
New in Union City? 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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Union City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $735K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $735K 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 26,191 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Obion County Public Library serves 30,411 people in and around Union City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Union City.
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 Union City
Does Union City have a public library?
Yes. Obion County Public Library, 1221 East Reelfoot Avenue, serves 30,411 people in and around Union City (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Obion County Public 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 Union City’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Union City’s civic life grade?
D Union City is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Union City.
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.