Photo: Wmr36104 · CC BY-SA 3.0Geneva’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library serves Geneva’s 8,188 residents. Last year it lent 3,896 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,377 visits.
The short version on Geneva’s library
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library is used less than most libraries its size
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library offered 7 programs last year, 0.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Geneva has a card
7,272 cards for 8,188 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library holds 21,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once 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 Geneva’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Geneva is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #75 of 156 in Alabama. Geneva is graded on two of the three inputs. Geneva’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Geneva
3.8 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.7%
4.7% of Geneva’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 Geneva’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library serves 8,188 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,896 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
7 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Geneva last year.
Find it
Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library, 312 South Commerce Street, Geneva.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Geneva? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Geneva cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $149K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $81K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $149K 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 7,272 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva | Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library | 0.5 | 33 | C− |
| Eunola | 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.
- 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 Geneva
Does Geneva have a public library?
Yes. Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan Library, 312 South Commerce Street, serves Geneva’s 8,188 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Geneva - Emma Knox Kenan 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 Geneva’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Geneva’s civic life grade?
C− Geneva is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Geneva.
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.