Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Clio’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library serves Clio’s 3,289 residents. Last year it lent 5,877 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,340 visits.
What Clio’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library offered 19 programs last year, 5.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Alabama pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 71% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library spends $5 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.
What’s behind Clio’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clio has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Clio is graded on two of the three inputs. Clio’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library spends $5 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($22K–$36K) 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 →
Clio has few registered community nonprofits
0.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
0.4%
0.4% of Clio’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 Clio’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.
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library serves 3,289 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,877 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
19 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 Clio last year.
Find it
Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library, 17 School Street, Clio.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Clio? 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 $6.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clio cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $15K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $99K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 1,380 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Clio
Does Clio have a public library?
Yes. Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library, 17 School Street, serves Clio’s 3,289 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clio - Elton B. Stephens Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clio’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Clio’s civic life grade?
D− Clio has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Clio.
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.