Photo: Calvin Beale · Public domainChatom’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Washington County Public Library serves 15,122 people in and around Chatom. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
What Chatom’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
65% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
74% of the people it serves carry a library card
11,251 cards for 15,122 people, or 74%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Washington County Public Library serves 15,122 people in and around Chatom, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Chatom’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Chatom is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Chatom is graded on two of the three inputs. Chatom’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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Chatom
7.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.3%
2.3% of Chatom’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 Chatom’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Washington County Public Library serves 15,122 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washington County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,314 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, 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
Washington County Public Library, 14102 St. Stephens Ave., Chatom.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Washington County Public Library branch.
New in Chatom? 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 Chatom cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $461K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $287K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $461K 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 11,251 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Washington County Public Library serves 15,122 people in and around Chatom, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Chatom.
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 Chatom
Does Chatom have a public library?
Yes. Washington County Public Library, 14102 St. Stephens Ave., serves 15,122 people in and around Chatom (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washington County 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 Chatom’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Chatom’s civic life grade?
C+ Chatom is ahead of 39% 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 Chatom.
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.