Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainJackson’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library serves Jackson’s 8,788 residents. Last year it lent 6,740 books, movies and e-books and logged 8,353 visits.
What Jackson’s library is like
More library cards than residents
12,940 cards for 8,788 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 159 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library holds 24,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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.
What’s behind Jackson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jackson is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #39 of 156 in Alabama. Jackson is graded on two of the three inputs. Jackson’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Jackson
6.5 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 (6 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.
2.3%
2.3% of Jackson’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 Jackson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library serves 8,788 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
6,740 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
2,175 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Jackson last year.
Find it
Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library, 213 College Avenue, Jackson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Jackson? 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 Jackson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $301K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $139K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $301K 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 12,940 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Jackson
Does Jackson have a public library?
Yes. Jackson - White Smith Memorial Library, 213 College Avenue, serves Jackson’s 8,788 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson - White Smith Memorial 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 Jackson’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jackson’s civic life grade?
C+ Jackson is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Jackson.
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.