Bishop Manor Estate (Additional Documentation) · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Bayou La Batre’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library serves Bayou La Batre’s 2,163 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Bayou La Batre’s library
More library cards than residents
8,894 cards for 2,163 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Busy on a lean budget
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library spends $28 per resident, less than 84% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 83% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 85% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Bayou La Batre last year. Kids & programs ↓
People come to City of Bayou La Batre Public Library a lot
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.2 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library serves 2,163 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 44 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Bayou La Batre’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bayou La Batre is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Bayou La Batre
3.3 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of Bayou La Batre’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 Bayou La Batre’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library serves 2,163 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
19 programs a year
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 Bayou La Batre last year.
Find it
City of Bayou La Batre Public Library, 12747 Padgett Switch Road, Irvington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bayou La Batre? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bayou La Batre cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 8,894 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. City of Bayou La Batre Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Bayou La Batre
Does Bayou La Batre have a public library?
Yes. City of Bayou La Batre Public Library, 12747 Padgett Switch Road, serves Bayou La Batre’s 2,163 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is City of Bayou La Batre Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bayou La Batre’s library?
It logged 14.8 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bayou La Batre’s civic life grade?
B− Bayou La Batre is ahead of 45% 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 Bayou La Batre.
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.