Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Winchester’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Franklin County Public Library serves 44,654 people in and around Winchester. Last year it lent 96K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
The short version on Winchester’s library
Franklin County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Franklin County Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Franklin County Public Library offered 200 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
50% of the 200 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 73 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Franklin County Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 94% 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; Franklin County Public Library serves 44,654 people in and around Winchester, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Winchester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Winchester is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #10 of 150 in Tennessee. Winchester is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Winchester’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
66 community nonprofits are registered in Winchester
6.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Winchester’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 Winchester’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Franklin County Public Library serves 44,654 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Franklin County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
96K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
33,585 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
Franklin County Public Library, 105 South Porter Street, Winchester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Franklin County Public Library branch.
New in Winchester? 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 $3.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Winchester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $501K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $501K 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 7,785 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Franklin County Public Library serves 44,654 people in and around Winchester, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Winchester.
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 Winchester
Does Winchester have a public library?
Yes. Franklin County Public Library, 105 South Porter Street, serves 44,654 people in and around Winchester (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Franklin 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 Winchester’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Winchester’s civic life grade?
A− Winchester is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Winchester.
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.