Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Boaz’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Boaz Public Library serves Boaz’s 10,292 residents. Last year it lent 126K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
Boaz’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
10,352 cards for 10,292 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 15 items per child in Boaz last year. Kids & programs ↓
Boaz is a town of borrowers
Boaz Public Library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 22% of all loans. 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 Boaz’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Boaz is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #78 of 156 in Alabama. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Boaz
2.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.8%
2.8% of Boaz’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 Boaz’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Boaz last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Boaz Public Library serves 10,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
126K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
27,671 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Boaz Public Library, 404 Thomas Ave., Boaz.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Boaz? 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 $3.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Boaz cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $605K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $605K 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 10,352 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Boaz borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boaz | Boaz Public Library fine-free | 12.2 | 54 | C− |
| Sardis City | Sardis City Public Library fine-free | 10.9 | 26 | D− |
| Albertville | Albertville Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 52 | D− |
| New Union | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Carlisle-Rockledge | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Boaz
Does Boaz have a public library?
Yes. Boaz Public Library, 404 Thomas Ave., serves Boaz’s 10,292 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Boaz 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 Boaz’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Boaz’s civic life grade?
C− Boaz is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #78 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 Boaz.
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.