Photo: Lara Shane · Public domainCarbon Hill’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Carbon Hill City Library serves Carbon Hill’s 1,727 residents. Last year it lent 1,066 books, movies and e-books and logged 816 visits.
Carbon Hill’s library, in brief
Carbon Hill City Library is used less than most libraries its size
Carbon Hill City Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
70% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 18%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Carbon Hill City Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Carbon Hill City Library serves 1,727 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Carbon Hill City Library offered 17 programs last year, 9.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Carbon Hill’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Carbon Hill is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Carbon Hill’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Carbon Hill City Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($18K–$31K) 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 Carbon Hill
2.7 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.7%
4.7% of Carbon Hill’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 Carbon Hill’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Carbon Hill City Library serves 1,727 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,066 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,483 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
361 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
17 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Carbon Hill last year.
Find it
Carbon Hill City Library, 215 NW 2nd Street, Carbon Hill.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Carbon Hill? 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 Carbon Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $31K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $31K 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 537 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. Carbon Hill City 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 Carbon Hill
Does Carbon Hill have a public library?
Yes. Carbon Hill City Library, 215 NW 2nd Street, serves Carbon Hill’s 1,727 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carbon Hill City 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 Carbon Hill’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Carbon Hill’s civic life grade?
D Carbon Hill is ahead of 5% 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 Carbon Hill.
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.