Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Eclectic’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Eclectic Public Library serves Eclectic’s 1,198 residents. Last year it lent 1,816 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,500 visits.
The short version on Eclectic’s library
More library cards than residents
2,545 cards for 1,198 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most of Eclectic’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 63% of loans. Print still makes up 37%. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 16 hours a week
Eclectic Public Library keeps short hours: about 16 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Eclectic Public Library serves 1,198 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Eclectic Public Library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 96% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Eclectic’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Eclectic is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Eclectic’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Eclectic Public Library spends $27 per resident, against a typical $54 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 ($37K–$62K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Eclectic
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: health.
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.
5.1%
5.1% of Eclectic’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 Eclectic’s residents live; 2022.
63% of borrowing is digital
1,816 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,149 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Eclectic Public Library serves 1,198 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
85 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 Eclectic last year.
Find it
Eclecitc Public Library, 50 Main Street, Eclectic.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Eclectic? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eclectic cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $32K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $32K 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 2,545 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. Eclectic Public 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 Eclectic
Does Eclectic have a public library?
Yes. Eclectic Public Library, 50 Main Street, serves Eclectic’s 1,198 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 16 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eclectic 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 Eclectic’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Eclectic’s civic life grade?
D Eclectic is ahead of 14% 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 Eclectic.
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.