Grand Bay Historic District · Photo: Citizens36541 · CC BY-SA 3.0Grand Bay’s library is a branch of Mobile Public Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Grand Bay’s library is the Grand Bay Library, a branch of Mobile Public Library, which serves 371,984 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What stands out about Grand Bay Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Grand Bay’s civic life grade
Grand Bay isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Mobile Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Grand Bay
Grand Bay is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.2%
5.2% of Grand Bay’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 Grand Bay’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mobile Public Library serves 371,984 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mobile Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1.2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 33 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Grand Bay Library, 10329 Freeland Avenue, Grand Bay.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mobile Public Library branch.
New in Grand Bay? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grand Bay cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 138,405 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.
- System-wide. Grand Bay Library is one branch of Mobile Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 371,984 people it serves.
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 Grand Bay
Does Grand Bay have a public library?
Yes: Grand Bay Library, 10329 Freeland Avenue, is a branch of Mobile Public Library, which serves 371,984 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mobile 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 Grand Bay’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Grand Bay’s civic life grade?
Grand Bay isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Mobile Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Grand Bay.
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.