Florence, Alabama Music Enterprises (FAME) Recording Studios · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainMuscle Shoals’ library lends 5.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Muscle Shoals Public Library serves Muscle Shoals’s 21,213 residents. Last year it lent 199K books, movies and e-books and logged 77K visits.
The short version on Muscle Shoals’s library
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans, more per resident than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 59%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
82% of Muscle Shoals carry a library card
17,467 cards for 21,213 people, or 82%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. 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.
What’s behind Muscle Shoals’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Muscle Shoals is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #95 of 156 in Alabama. Muscle Shoals is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Muscle Shoals
2.5 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 (17 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.
6.0%
6.0% of Muscle Shoals’ 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 Muscle Shoals’ residents live; 2022.
41% of borrowing is digital
199K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 64K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
81,339 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Muscle Shoals Public Library serves 21,213 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 4 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 Muscle Shoals last year.
Find it
Muscle Shoals Public Library, 1918 East Avalon Avenue, Muscle Shoals.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Muscle Shoals? 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 $4.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Muscle Shoals cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $711K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $711K 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 17,467 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.
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 Muscle Shoals
Does Muscle Shoals have a public library?
Yes. Muscle Shoals Public Library, 1918 East Avalon Avenue, serves Muscle Shoals’ 21,213 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Muscle Shoals 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 Muscle Shoals’ library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 9.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Muscle Shoals’ civic life grade?
C− Muscle Shoals is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #95 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 Muscle Shoals.
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.