Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Geraldine’s library lends 7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Geraldine Public Library serves Geraldine’s 905 residents. Last year it lent 6,358 print books and media and logged 2,750 visits.
The short version on Geraldine’s library
More library cards than residents
3,108 cards for 905 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 ↓
A small-town library
Geraldine Public Library serves 905 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 32 hours a week. 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
78% of the 63 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 14 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Geraldine Public Library holds 43,000 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Geraldine’s civic life grade
Geraldine isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Geraldine Public Library serves 905 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,358 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
63 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 Geraldine last year.
Find it
Geraldine Public Library, 13543 Alabama Highway 227, Geraldine.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Geraldine? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Geraldine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $41K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $112K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $41K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,108 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Geraldine
Does Geraldine have a public library?
Yes. Geraldine Public Library, 13543 Alabama Highway 227, serves Geraldine’s 905 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Geraldine Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Geraldine’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Geraldine’s civic life grade?
Geraldine isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Geraldine.
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.