Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Moulton’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Lawrence County Public Library serves 31,093 people in and around Moulton. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
Moulton’s library, in brief
Lawrence County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lawrence County Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $5 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
43,000 people came to the system’s 120 programs last year: 1.4 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Alabama pays a big share
27% of the budget comes from the state, and 52% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 120 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lawrence County Public Library spends $5 per resident, less than 99% 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; Lawrence County Public Library serves 31,093 people in and around Moulton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Moulton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Moulton is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #52 of 156 in Alabama. Moulton is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Moulton’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Moulton
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Moulton’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 Moulton’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lawrence County Public Library serves 31,093 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lawrence County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,674 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lawrence County Public Library, 401 College Street, Lawrence.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lawrence County Public Library branch.
New in Moulton? 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 $4.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Moulton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $163K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $738K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $163K 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 6,234 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lawrence County Public Library serves 31,093 people in and around Moulton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Moulton.
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 Moulton
Does Moulton have a public library?
Yes. Lawrence County Public Library, 401 College Street, serves 31,093 people in and around Moulton (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lawrence County 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 Moulton’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Moulton’s civic life grade?
C Moulton is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #52 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 Moulton.
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.