Photo: Ecjmartin1 · Public domainNewton’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Newton Public Library serves Newton’s 2,212 residents. Last year it lent 1,026 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,597 visits.
What Newton’s library is like
Newton Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Newton Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Newton Public Library serves 2,212 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 40 hours a week. 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 ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Newton Public Library offered 16 programs last year, 7.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 4% of the people Newton Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Newton Public Library spends $21 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Newton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newton is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns. Newton 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.
Newton Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$75K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Newton
1.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.3%
5.3% of Newton’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 Newton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Newton Public Library serves 2,212 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Newton Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,026 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,754 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
16 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Newton last year.
Find it
Newton Public Library, 209 Oates Drive, Newton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Newton? 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 Newton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $20K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 82 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton | Newton Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 40 | D |
| Pinckard | 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.
- 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 Newton
Does Newton have a public library?
Yes. Newton Public Library, 209 Oates Drive, serves Newton’s 2,212 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Newton Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Newton’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Newton’s civic life grade?
D Newton is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Newton.
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.