Citronelle Railroad Historic District · Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed) · CC BY-SA 3.0Citronelle’s library runs 6.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Citronelle Memorial Library serves Citronelle’s 3,903 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,410 visits.
What stands out about Citronelle’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Citronelle’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Citronelle is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #90 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Citronelle’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Citronelle Memorial Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $43 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 ($33K–$55K) 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Citronelle
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (6 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Citronelle’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 Citronelle’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Citronelle Memorial Library serves 3,903 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
4 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
26 programs a year
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 Citronelle last year.
Find it
Citronelle Memorial Library, 7855 State Street, Citronelle.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Citronelle? 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 $3.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Citronelle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $62K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $206K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $62K 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 2,350 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. Citronelle Memorial 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 Citronelle
Does Citronelle have a public library?
Yes. Citronelle Memorial Library, 7855 State Street, serves Citronelle’s 3,903 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Citronelle 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 Citronelle’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Citronelle’s civic life grade?
C− Citronelle is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #90 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 Citronelle.
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.