Clyde Carter House · Photo: Spyder_Monkey · CC BY-SA 3.0Killen’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Killen Public Library serves Killen’s 1,035 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,600 visits.
Killen’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
3,448 cards for 1,035 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Killen Public Library serves 1,035 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 39 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Killen is a town of borrowers
Killen Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Alabama pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 69% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Killen Public Library holds 27,000 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Killen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Killen is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Killen’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Killen
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Killen’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 Killen’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Killen Public Library serves 1,035 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
21 programs a year
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 Killen last year.
Find it
Killen Public Library, 325 J. C. Mauldin Highway, Killen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Killen? 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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Killen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $85K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $201K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $85K 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 3,448 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 Killen
Does Killen have a public library?
Yes. Killen Public Library, 325 J. C. Mauldin Highway, serves Killen’s 1,035 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Killen 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 Killen’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Killen’s civic life grade?
C+ Killen is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Killen.
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.