Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Brundidge’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Brundidge - Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library serves Brundidge’s 6,436 residents. Last year it lent 7,022 books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
What’s behind Brundidge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brundidge is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. Brundidge is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Brundidge’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Brundidge
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.9%
3.9% of Brundidge’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 Brundidge’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Brundidge - Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library serves 6,436 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,022 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,204 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Brundidge last year.
Find it
Brundidge - Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library, 164 South Main Street, Brundidge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Brundidge? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brundidge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $292K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $161K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $292K 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 1,640 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Brundidge
Does Brundidge have a public library?
Yes. Brundidge - Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library, 164 South Main Street, serves Brundidge’s 6,436 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brundidge - Tupper Lightfoot Memorial 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 Brundidge’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Brundidge’s civic life grade?
D− Brundidge is ahead of 4% 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 Brundidge.
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.