Photo: Please attribute this image as the work of "DiscoverWithDima." · CC BY-SA 4.0Gulf Shores’ library lends 2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library serves Gulf Shores’s 16,193 residents. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What Gulf Shores’s library is like
Most of Gulf Shores’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 80% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 306 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
80% of Gulf Shores carry a library card
12,962 cards for 16,193 people, or 80%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Gulf Shores’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gulf Shores is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #57 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Gulf Shores’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Gulf Shores
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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Gulf Shores’ 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 Gulf Shores’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library serves 16,193 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
36,957 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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 Gulf Shores last year.
Find it
Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library, 221 West 19th Avenue, Gulf Shores.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Gulf Shores? 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 $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gulf Shores cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $804K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $804K 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 12,962 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Gulf Shores ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Beach | Orange Beach Public Library fine-free | 18.8 | 50 | A− |
| Foley | Foley Public Library | 13.6 | 56 | C+ |
| Gulf Shores | Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library | 4.2 | 40 | C |
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 Gulf Shores
Does Gulf Shores have a public library?
Yes. Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library, 221 West 19th Avenue, serves Gulf Shores’ 16,193 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton 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 Gulf Shores’ library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Gulf Shores’ civic life grade?
C Gulf Shores is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #57 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 Gulf Shores.
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.