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TNTennessee rankings

Towns with the most-used public libraries in Tennessee

Ranked by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 19 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Map of Gatlinburg 1 Gatlinburg 8.3 per resident Anna Porter Public Library Map of Collegedale 2 Collegedale 5.5 per resident Collegedale Public Library Germantown 3 Germantown 5.1 per resident Germantown Community Library
#TownVisits per residentLibraryVisits a year
1 Map of Gatlinburg Gatlinburg3,663 people 8.3 per resident Anna Porter Public Library 30,903
2 Map of Collegedale Collegedale11,330 people 5.5 per resident Collegedale Public Library 63,326
3 Germantown Germantown40,673 people 5.1 per resident Germantown Community Library 205,640
4 Map of Brentwood Brentwood45,556 people 4.6 per resident The John P. Holt Brentwood Library 208,777
5 Oak Ridge Oak Ridge32,693 people 3.7 per resident Oak Ridge Public Library 123,824
6 Johnson City Johnson City72,222 people 3.4 per resident Johnson City Public Library 246,024
7 White House White House14,631 people 3.2 per resident White House Public Library 49,272
8 Millington Millington11,289 people 3.1 per resident Millington Public Library 35,150
9 Collierville Collierville51,515 people 2.6 per resident Lucius E. and Elsie C. Burch, Jr. Library 131,559
10 Mosheim Mosheim2,511 people 2.5 per resident Mosheim Public Library 6,245
11 Kingsport Kingsport56,262 people 2.2 per resident Kingsport Public Library 122,078
12 Chattanooga Chattanooga185,783 people 1.8 per resident Chattanooga Public Library 339,214
13 Arlington Arlington15,205 people 1.5 per resident Sam T. Wilson Public Library 22,422
14 Signal Mountain Signal Mountain8,860 people 1.4 per resident Town of Signal Mountain Library 12,570
15 East Ridge East Ridge22,070 people 1.3 per resident East Ridge City Library 28,080
16 La Vergne40,243 people 1.2 per resident La Vergne Public Library 46,241
17 Mount Carmel Mount Carmel5,472 people 1.0 per resident Mt. Carmel Library 5,716
18 McKenzie McKenzie5,631 people 0.6 per resident Mckenzie Memorial Library 3,430
19 Oliver Springs Oliver Springs3,281 people 0.1 per resident Oliver Springs Public Library 427

How this ranking works

We rank every town by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. The highest figure ranks #1. Each library reports its own yearly numbers to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (fiscal year 2024), and each town’s Library page shows how it compares with libraries of a similar size nationwide.

A town is ranked only when its library system serves that town alone, and the library’s own count of the people it serves is within 20% of the town’s population. Towns served by a county or regional system, or sharing a library with a neighbor, can’t be credited with the numbers, so they aren’t ranked. Libraries that didn’t respond to the survey aren’t ranked either. Vacation towns can rank high because summer residents and visitors use the library too.

Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Libraries: IMLS Public Libraries Survey. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.

Same ranking in other states

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