Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Hartselle’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle serves Hartselle’s 24,062 residents. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Hartselle’s library
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle is used less than most libraries its size
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 128 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle offered 128 programs last year, 5.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle spends $11 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Hartselle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hartselle is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #102 of 156 in Alabama. Hartselle is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hartselle’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle spends $11 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
46 community nonprofits are registered in Hartselle
2.9 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Hartselle’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 Hartselle’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle serves 24,062 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
17,306 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Hartselle last year.
Find it
Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle, 152 Sparkman Street NW, Hartselle.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hartselle? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hartselle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $274K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $879K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $274K 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 3,719 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hartselle borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Hartselle
Does Hartselle have a public library?
Yes. Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle, 152 Sparkman Street NW, serves Hartselle’s 24,062 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hartselle - William Bradford Huie Library of Hartselle 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 Hartselle’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hartselle’s civic life grade?
D Hartselle is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #102 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 Hartselle.
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.