Leeds’ library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library serves Leeds’s 12,346 residents. Last year it lent 76K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
What stands out about Leeds’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Leeds’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Leeds is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #54 of 156 in Alabama. Leeds’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Leeds
4.1 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Leeds’ 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 Leeds’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library serves 12,346 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
23,909 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 Leeds last year.
Find it
Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library, 8104 Parkway Drive, Leeds.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Leeds? 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 $2.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leeds cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $448K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $448K 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 4,313 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Leeds borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leeds | Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library fine-free | 6.1 | 43 | C |
| Irondale | Irondale Public Library | 5.8 | 40 | B |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Public - Central Branch | 3.2 | 52 | B |
| Moody | Moody - Doris Stanley Memorial Library | 1.7 | 45 | D |
| Dunnavant | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Leeds
Does Leeds have a public library?
Yes. Leeds - Jane Culbreth Library, 8104 Parkway Drive, serves Leeds’ 12,346 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leeds - Jane Culbreth 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 Leeds’ library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Leeds’ civic life grade?
C Leeds is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 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 Leeds.
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.