Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Louisville’s library logs 0 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Louisville Public Library serves Louisville’s 2,479 residents. Last year it logged 100 visits.
The short version on Louisville’s library
Alabama pays a big share
58% of the budget comes from the state, and 42% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Louisville Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60.
A small-town library
Louisville Public Library serves 2,479 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
Louisville Public Library keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people Louisville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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 Louisville’s civic life grade
Louisville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Louisville Public Library serves 2,479 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Louisville Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 144 items borrowed against 100 visits, so we leave the count out.
Find it
Louisville Public Library, 1951 Main Street, Louisville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Louisville? 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 Louisville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $8,746.
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 195 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Louisville
Does Louisville have a public library?
Yes. Louisville Public Library, 1951 Main Street, serves Louisville’s 2,479 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Louisville 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 Louisville’s library?
It logged 0.0 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Louisville’s civic life grade?
Louisville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Louisville.
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.