Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Anniston’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library serves 72,719 people in and around Anniston from 2 locations. Last year it lent 123K books, movies and e-books and logged 88K visits.
Anniston’s library, in brief
Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% 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; Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library serves 72,719 people in and around Anniston, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Anniston’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Anniston is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #28 of 156 in Alabama. Anniston is graded on two of the three inputs. Anniston’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 →
130 community nonprofits are registered in Anniston
6.1 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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Anniston’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama 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 Anniston’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.
Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library serves 72,719 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 Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
123K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
26,752 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
2 places to borrow in Anniston
Anniston and Calhoun County Public Library, 108 East 10th Street, Anniston.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library branch.
New in Anniston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library branches in Anniston
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anniston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $915K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $915K 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 21,057 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | Oxford Public Library | 4.0 | 48 | D |
| Hobson City | Hobson City Public Library fine-free | 1.1 | 30 | — graded with its twin city |
| Anniston | Anniston and Calhoun County Public Library | — | 52 | C+ |
| Saks | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| West End-Cobb Town | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Weaver | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library serves 72,719 people in and around Anniston, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Anniston.
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 Anniston
Does Anniston have a public library?
Yes. Anniston - Calhoun County Public Library, 108 East 10th Street, serves 72,719 people in and around Anniston (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Anniston - Calhoun 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 Anniston’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Anniston’s civic life grade?
C+ Anniston is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 of 156 in Alabama. 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 Anniston.
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.