Guin’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Guin - Mchs Community Library serves Guin’s 2,161 residents. Last year it lent 765 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,435 visits.
The short version on Guin’s library
Guin - Mchs Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Guin - Mchs Community Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Guin - Mchs Community Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Guin - Mchs Community Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Guin - Mchs Community Library serves 2,161 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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 Guin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Guin is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Guin’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Guin - Mchs Community Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size, and its 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 ($38K–$64K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Guin
3.4 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.7%
1.7% of Guin’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 Guin’s residents live; 2022.
49% of borrowing is digital
765 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
376 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Guin - Mchs Community Library serves 2,161 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Guin - Mchs Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Guin last year.
Find it
Guin - Mchs Community Library, 8115 U.S. Highway 43, Guin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Guin? 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 Guin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $49K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $49K 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 1,791 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guin | Guin - Mchs Community Library | 0.4 | 18 | D |
| Twin | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Guin - Mchs Community 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 Guin
Does Guin have a public library?
Yes. Guin - Mchs Community Library, 8115 U.S. Highway 43, serves Guin’s 2,161 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Guin - Mchs Community 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 Guin’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Guin’s civic life grade?
D Guin is ahead of 7% 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 Guin.
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.