Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Luverne’s library lends 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Luverne Public Library serves 9,744 people in and around Luverne. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
The short version on Luverne’s library
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 270 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
9,110 cards for 9,744 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. 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; Luverne Public Library serves 9,744 people in and around Luverne, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Luverne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Luverne is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #108 of 156 in Alabama. Luverne is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Luverne’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Luverne Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$54K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Luverne
3.3 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of Luverne’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 Luverne’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Luverne Public Library serves 9,744 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Luverne Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,253 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Luverne Public Library, 148 East Third Street, Luverne.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Luverne Public Library branch.
New in Luverne? 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 $1.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Luverne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $182K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $357K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $182K 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 9,110 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luverne | Luverne Public Library | — | 40 | D |
| Rutledge | 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.
- System-wide. Luverne Public Library serves 9,744 people in and around Luverne, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Luverne.
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 Luverne
Does Luverne have a public library?
Yes. Luverne Public Library, 148 East Third Street, serves 9,744 people in and around Luverne (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Luverne 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 Luverne’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Luverne’s civic life grade?
D Luverne is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #108 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 Luverne.
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.