Davidson-Smitherman House · Photo: Rammerjammer · CC BY-SA 3.0Centreville’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Brent - Centreville Public Library serves 18,248 people in and around Centreville. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Centreville’s library, in brief
Brent - Centreville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Brent - Centreville Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Brent - Centreville Public Library offered 16 programs last year, 0.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Alabama pays a big share
38% of the budget comes from the state, and 32% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Brent - Centreville Public Library spends $3 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Brent - Centreville Public Library serves 18,248 people in and around Centreville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Centreville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Centreville is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #96 of 156 in Alabama. Centreville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Centreville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Brent - Centreville Public Library spends $3 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$49K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Centreville
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.3%
4.3% of Centreville’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 Centreville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Brent - Centreville Public Library serves 18,248 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Brent - Centreville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,633 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
16 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Brent - Centreville Public Library, 20 Library Street, Centreville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Brent - Centreville Public Library branch.
New in Centreville? 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 $4.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Centreville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $59K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $260K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $59K 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 7,183 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centreville | Brent - Centreville Public Library | — | 36 | C− |
| Brent | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- System-wide. Brent - Centreville Public Library serves 18,248 people in and around Centreville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Centreville.
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 Centreville
Does Centreville have a public library?
Yes. Brent - Centreville Public Library, 20 Library Street, serves 18,248 people in and around Centreville (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Brent - Centreville 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 Centreville’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Centreville’s civic life grade?
C− Centreville is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #96 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 Centreville.
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.