Photo: Prussian_Fool · CC BY-SA 4.0Dothan’s library logs 2.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Dothan Houston County Library System serves 108,079 people in and around Dothan from 2 locations. Last year it lent 205K books, movies and e-books and logged 295K visits.
Dothan’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 70% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 13%. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 559 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 201 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Dothan Houston County Library System serves 108,079 people in and around Dothan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dothan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dothan is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #64 of 156 in Alabama. Dothan is graded on two of the three inputs. Dothan’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) 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 →
322 community nonprofits are registered in Dothan
4.5 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 (109 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Dothan’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 Dothan’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dothan Houston County Library System serves 108,079 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dothan Houston County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
205K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,603 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
2 places to borrow in Dothan
Dothan Houston County Library System, 445 North Oates Street, Dothan.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dothan Houston County Library System branch.
New in Dothan? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Dothan Houston County Library System branches in Dothan
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dothan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 61,056 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headland | Headland - Blanche R. Solomon Memorial Library | 2.5 | 40 | C− |
| Midland City | Midland City - Mary Berry Brown Memorial Library fine-free | 1.4 | 35 | D− |
| Dothan | Dothan Houston County Library System | — | 42 | C |
| Webb | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Rehobeth | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Kinsey | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Napier Field | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Taylor | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Cowarts | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Grimes | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Dothan Houston County Library System serves 108,079 people in and around Dothan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dothan.
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 Dothan
Does Dothan have a public library?
Yes. Dothan Houston County Library System, 445 North Oates Street, serves 108,079 people in and around Dothan (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dothan Houston County Library System 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 Dothan’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Dothan’s civic life grade?
C Dothan is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #64 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 Dothan.
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.