Janney Furnace · Photo: dofftoubab · CC BY-SA 3.0Ohatchee’s library lends 2.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Ohatchee Public Library serves Ohatchee’s 1,177 residents. Last year it lent 3,354 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,613 visits.
The short version on Ohatchee’s library
A small-town library
Ohatchee Public Library serves 1,177 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Ohatchee has a card
1,034 cards for 1,177 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Federal money pays a real share
7% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Ohatchee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ohatchee is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($58K–$96K) 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 Ohatchee
2.2 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Ohatchee’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 Ohatchee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ohatchee Public Library serves 1,177 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
3,354 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
654 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
41 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 Ohatchee last year.
Find it
Ohatchee Public Library, 7803 Alabama Highway 77, Ohatchee.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ohatchee? 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 Ohatchee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $65K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $53K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65K 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 1,034 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Ohatchee
Does Ohatchee have a public library?
Yes. Ohatchee Public Library, 7803 Alabama Highway 77, serves Ohatchee’s 1,177 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ohatchee 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 Ohatchee’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ohatchee’s civic life grade?
D Ohatchee is ahead of 11% 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 Ohatchee.
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.