Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Childersburg’s library runs 1.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library serves Childersburg’s 4,656 residents. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 6,840 visits.
What Childersburg’s library is like
More library cards than residents
16,051 cards for 4,656 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Most of Childersburg’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 86% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 14%. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library offered 9 programs last year, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Alabama for borrowing
Childersburg ranks #5 of 70 Alabama towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 2.4 items per resident, more than at 28% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library holds 53,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Childersburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Childersburg is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #127 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Childersburg’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Childersburg
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Childersburg’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 Childersburg’s residents live; 2022.
86% of borrowing is digital
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
69,294 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library serves 4,656 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
9 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 Childersburg last year.
Find it
Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library, 124 Ninth Avenue SW, Childersburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Childersburg? 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 $6.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Childersburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $198K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $198K 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 16,051 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.
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 Childersburg
Does Childersburg have a public library?
Yes. Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library, 124 Ninth Avenue SW, serves Childersburg’s 4,656 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater 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 Childersburg’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 17.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Childersburg’s civic life grade?
D Childersburg is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #127 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 Childersburg.
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.