Photo: derivative work, Enterprise Hospital.jpg, Coffee County AL, Courthouse.jpg, Enterprise Alabama Water Tower.jpg, Palm Tree Lined Road.jpg: Skuzbucket Boll weevil monument.jpg: United States Department of Agriculture · CC BY-SA 4.0Enterprise’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Enterprise Public Library serves Enterprise’s 44,880 residents. Last year it lent 76K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What Enterprise’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 213 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Enterprise Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Enterprise Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Enterprise Public Library offered 213 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Alabama pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Enterprise Public Library spends $6 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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 Enterprise’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Enterprise is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #85 of 156 in Alabama. Enterprise is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Enterprise’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Enterprise Public Library spends $6 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$91K) 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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Enterprise
3.0 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 (34 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Enterprise’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 Enterprise’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Enterprise Public Library serves 44,880 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 46K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
14,737 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, 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 Enterprise last year.
Find it
Enterprise Public Library, 101 East Grubbs Street, Enterprise.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Enterprise? 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 $4.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Enterprise cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $274K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $274K 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 34,361 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 Enterprise
Does Enterprise have a public library?
Yes. Enterprise Public Library, 101 East Grubbs Street, serves Enterprise’s 44,880 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Enterprise 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 Enterprise’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Enterprise’s civic life grade?
C− Enterprise is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #85 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 Enterprise.
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.