Photo: Public domain · Public domainElba’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Elba Public Library serves Elba’s 9,925 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 17K visits.
What Elba’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Elba Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Federal money pays a real share
9% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 66% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Elba Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Elba Public Library holds 23,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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 Elba’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Elba is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #136 of 156 in Alabama. Elba is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Elba’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Elba Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($34K–$56K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Elba
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Elba’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 Elba’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Elba Public Library serves 9,925 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
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,198 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Elba last year.
Find it
Elba Public Library, 406 Simmons Street, Elba.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Elba? 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 $2.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Elba cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $135K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $327K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $135K 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 2,346 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 Elba
Does Elba have a public library?
Yes. Elba Public Library, 406 Simmons Street, serves Elba’s 9,925 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Elba 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 Elba’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Elba’s civic life grade?
D Elba is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #136 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 Elba.
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.