Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY-SA 3.0Flomaton’s library lends 7.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Flomaton Public Library serves 1,458 people in and around Flomaton. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,253 visits.
The short version on Flomaton’s library
More library cards than residents
8,363 cards for 1,458 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 ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 78% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 70%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Flomaton invests in its library
Flomaton Public Library spends $135 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Flomaton Public Library holds 30,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 63% of similar-size libraries. 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 Flomaton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Flomaton is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Flomaton’s 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 ($32K–$53K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Flomaton
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.0%
3.0% of Flomaton’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 Flomaton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Flomaton Public Library serves 1,458 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
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
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
830 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
39 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.
Find it
Flomaton Public Library, Dr Van Avenue, Flomaton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Flomaton? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Flomaton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $196K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $205K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $196K 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 8,363 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. Flomaton 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 Flomaton
Does Flomaton have a public library?
Yes. Flomaton Public Library, Dr Van Avenue, serves 1,458 people in and around Flomaton (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flomaton 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 Flomaton’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Flomaton’s civic life grade?
D Flomaton is ahead of 9% 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 Flomaton.
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.