Photo: Liveon001 ©Travis K. Witt · CC BY-SA 3.0Johnson City’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Johnson City Library serves Johnson City’s 5,922 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Johnson City’s library is like
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Johnson City Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 253 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 36 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Johnson City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Johnson City is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Johnson City is graded on two of the three inputs. Johnson City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Johnson City
8.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
6.2%
6.2% of Johnson City’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 Johnson City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Johnson City Library serves 5,922 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
3,218 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Johnson City last year.
Find it
Johnson City Library, 501 Nugent St., Johnson City.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Johnson City? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Johnson City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $260K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $239K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $260K 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 692 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 Johnson City
Does Johnson City have a public library?
Yes. Johnson City Library, 501 Nugent St., serves Johnson City’s 5,922 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Johnson City 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 Johnson City’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Johnson City’s civic life grade?
B+ Johnson City is ahead of 67% 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 Johnson 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.