Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Birmingham’s library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Birmingham Public Library serves Birmingham’s 196,910 residents from 18 locations. Last year it lent 624K books, movies and e-books and logged 891K visits.
The short version on Birmingham’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 95% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 21%. Program attendance beats 79% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
18 places to borrow in Birmingham
Birmingham Public Library runs 18 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Birmingham Public Library holds 762,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Birmingham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Birmingham is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #9 of 156 in Alabama. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #57. Birmingham’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 →
1,268 community nonprofits are registered in Birmingham
6.4 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 (305 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 45 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Birmingham’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 Birmingham’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 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 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Birmingham Public Library serves 196,910 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
43% of borrowing is digital
624K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 762K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
265,880 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 19 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 Birmingham last year.
19 places to borrow in Birmingham
Birmingham Public - Central Branch, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Birmingham? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Birmingham
And 6 more in Birmingham.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Birmingham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 76,252 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Birmingham ranks 8th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Brook | Mountain Brook - Emmet O'Neal Library fine-free | 19.9 | 59 | A |
| Homewood | Homewood Public Library | 19.4 | 63 | A− |
| Hoover | Hoover Public Library | 14.9 | 64 | B |
| Vestavia Hills | Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest | 12.1 | 59 | A− |
| Trussville | Trussville Public Library | 11.7 | 57 | B |
| Leeds | Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library fine-free | 6.1 | 43 | C |
| Irondale | Irondale Public Library | 5.8 | 40 | B |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Public - Central Branch | 3.2 | 52 | B |
| Center Point | Center Point Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 56 | D− |
| Forestdale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| McDonald Chapel | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Birmingham
Does Birmingham have a public library?
Yes. Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place, serves Birmingham’s 196,910 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Birmingham 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 Birmingham’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Birmingham’s civic life grade?
B Birmingham is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Birmingham.
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.