Verbena · Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 3.0Marbury’s library is a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, which lends more per resident than 56% of systems its size
Marbury’s library is the Marbury Public Library, a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, which serves 59,759 people and lent 298K items last year.
Marbury’s library, in brief
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Marbury branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 431 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
83% of the people it serves carry a library card
49,592 cards for 59,759 people, or 83%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Autauga - Prattville Public Library system spends $9 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Marbury’s library is a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, so they cover the whole system (59,759 people), not just the Marbury branch.
What’s behind Marbury’s civic life grade
Marbury isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Marbury
Marbury is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
3.2%
3.2% of Marbury’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 Marbury’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Autauga - Prattville Public Library serves 59,759 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 63 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Autauga - Prattville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
298K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
42,811 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Marbury Public Library, 205 County Rd. 20, Marbury.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Autauga - Prattville Public Library branch.
New in Marbury? 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 $8.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marbury cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $532K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $532K 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 49,592 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Marbury Public Library is one branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 59,759 people it serves.
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 Marbury
Does Marbury have a public library?
Yes: Marbury Public Library, 205 County Rd. 20, is a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, which serves 59,759 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Autauga - Prattville 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 Marbury’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Marbury’s civic life grade?
Marbury isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Autauga - Prattville Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Marbury.
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.