Photo: American Diabetio · CC BY-SA 4.0Huntsville’s library logs 3.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Huntsville - Madison County Public Library serves 403,565 people in and around Huntsville from 4 locations. Last year it lent 3M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.3M visits.
Huntsville’s library, in brief
Busy on a lean budget
Huntsville - Madison County Public Library spends $20 per resident, less than 79% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). It’s still busier than 81% of them. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Four branches in Huntsville
Huntsville has four branches of the Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, which serves 403,565 people in and around Huntsville. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Huntsville - Madison County Public Library serves 403,565 people in and around Huntsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Huntsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Huntsville is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #22 of 156 in Alabama. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #96. Huntsville is graded on two of the three inputs. Huntsville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
986 community nonprofits are registered in Huntsville
4.4 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 (259 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 33 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Huntsville’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 Huntsville’s residents live; 2022.
About 55 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Huntsville - Madison County Public Library serves 403,565 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 122 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Huntsville - Madison County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
447,924 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 places to borrow in Huntsville
Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, 915 Monroe Street, Huntsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Huntsville - Madison County Public Library branch.
New in Huntsville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Huntsville - Madison County Public Library branches in Huntsville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $5.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Huntsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $44M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.2M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 138,266 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decatur | Decatur Public Library | 2.0 | 45 | D |
| Huntsville | Huntsville - Madison County Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | B− |
| Triana | Huntsville Public - Triana Branch fine-free | — | 37 | D |
| Athens | Athens - Limestone Public Library | — | 50 | C− |
| Redstone Arsenal | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Owens Cross Roads | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Moores Mill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Huntsville - Madison County Public Library serves 403,565 people in and around Huntsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Huntsville.
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 Huntsville
Does Huntsville have a public library?
Yes. Huntsville - Madison County Public Library, 915 Monroe Street, serves 403,565 people in and around Huntsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntsville - Madison County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Huntsville’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Huntsville’s civic life grade?
B− Huntsville is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Huntsville.
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.