Alabama Midland Railway Depot · Photo: The Bushranger · CC BY-SA 4.0Ashford’s library is a branch of Dothan Houston County Library System, which lends less per resident than 87% of systems its size
Ashford’s library is the Dothan - Ashford Branch Library, a branch of Dothan Houston County Library System, which serves 108,079 people and lent 205K items last year.
What Ashford’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 70% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 13%. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 559 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 201 were for children. 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; Ashford’s library is a branch of Dothan Houston County Library System, so they cover the whole system (108,079 people), not just the Ashford branch.
What’s behind Ashford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashford is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns. Ashford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Ashford’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Dothan Houston County Library System spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Ashford
1.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
4.1%
4.1% of Ashford’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 Ashford’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dothan Houston County Library System serves 108,079 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dothan Houston County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
205K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,603 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.
Find it
Dothan - Ashford Branch Library, 305 Sixth Avenue, Ashford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dothan Houston County Library System branch.
New in Ashford? 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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 61,056 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Dothan - Ashford Branch Library is one branch of Dothan Houston County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 108,079 people it serves.
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 Ashford
Does Ashford have a public library?
Yes: Dothan - Ashford Branch Library, 305 Sixth Avenue, is a branch of Dothan Houston County Library System, which serves 108,079 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dothan Houston County Library System 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 Ashford’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Ashford’s civic life grade?
D− Ashford is ahead of 3% 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 Ashford.
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.