Rosedale Historic District · Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Homewood’s library runs 45 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Homewood Public Library serves Homewood’s 27,864 residents. Last year it lent 540K books, movies and e-books and logged 201K visits.
The short version on Homewood’s library
Homewood ranks 3rd in Alabama for borrowing
Out of 70 Alabama towns with a library of their own, Homewood comes 3rd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #5 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Homewood uses its library more than almost any town its size
Homewood Public Library logs 7.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Homewood Public Library ran 1,259 programs last year, about 24 a week. That’s 45 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 51,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 7.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Homewood last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Homewood’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Homewood is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #3 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
170 community nonprofits are registered in Homewood
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Homewood’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 Homewood’s residents live; 2022.
About 10 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 Homewood last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Homewood Public Library serves 27,864 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 164 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
540K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 106K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.2 times last year, on average.
206,398 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Homewood Public Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Homewood? 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 $2.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Homewood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 16,876 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Homewood ranks 2nd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Brook | Mountain Brook - Emmet O'Neal Library fine-free | 19.9 | 59 | A |
| Homewood | Homewood Public Library | 19.4 | 63 | A− |
| Hoover | Hoover Public Library | 14.9 | 64 | B |
| Vestavia Hills | Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest | 12.1 | 59 | A− |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Public - Central Branch | 3.2 | 52 | B |
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 Homewood
Does Homewood have a public library?
Yes. Homewood Public Library, 1721 Oxmoor Road, serves Homewood’s 27,864 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Homewood 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 Homewood’s library?
It logged 7.2 visits and lent 19.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Homewood’s civic life grade?
A− Homewood is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Homewood.
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.