Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Odenville’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Odenville Public Library serves Odenville’s 12,028 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
Odenville’s library, in brief
Odenville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Odenville Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Odenville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Federal money pays a real share
11% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 75% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
65% of the 252 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 62 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Odenville Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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.
What’s behind Odenville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Odenville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #103 of 156 in Alabama. Odenville 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.
Odenville Public Library spends $10 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Odenville
2.2 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.
6.2%
6.2% of Odenville’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 Odenville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Odenville Public Library serves 12,028 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
3,673 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Odenville last year.
Find it
Odenville Public Library, 200 Alabama Street, Odenville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Odenville? 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 $2.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Odenville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $117K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $274K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $117K 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 1,794 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Odenville ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springville | Springville Public Library | 6.0 | 41 | C |
| Moody | Moody - Doris Stanley Memorial Library | 1.7 | 45 | D |
| Odenville | Odenville Public Library fine-free | 1.2 | 40 | D |
| Margaret | None of its own | — | — | D |
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 Odenville
Does Odenville have a public library?
Yes. Odenville Public Library, 200 Alabama Street, serves Odenville’s 12,028 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Odenville 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 Odenville’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Odenville’s civic life grade?
D Odenville is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #103 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 Odenville.
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.