Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Franklin’s library runs 2.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Robertson County Carnegie Library serves Franklin’s 4,764 residents. Last year it lent 9,990 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,600 visits.
Franklin’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Franklin Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005. Today’s library there has 1,360 square feet. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 75%. 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 Franklin’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Franklin is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Franklin
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
12.3%
12.3% of Franklin’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Franklin’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2005
Robertson County Carnegie Library, 315 E Decherd, Franklin.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Franklin Carnegie Library
Franklin Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 25, 2005. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Italian Renaissance.
Franklin Carnegie Library is an historic library building at 315 E Decherd in Franklin, Texas. Before 1913, the City of Franklin housed its 1,000 volume library in its city hall. The city applied for a grant from the Carnegie Corporation and $7,500 was awarded for the construction of a new library. The building was completed in 1914 but only served as a library through 1918.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Robertson County Carnegie Library serves 4,764 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
9,990 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
865 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
11 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Franklin last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $83K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $161K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $83K 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 2,800 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 Franklin
Does Franklin have a public library?
Yes. Robertson County Carnegie Library, 315 E Decherd, serves Franklin’s 4,764 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Robertson County Carnegie 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 Franklin’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Franklin’s civic life grade?
A Franklin is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Franklin.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.