Photo: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Opelika’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Opelika Public Library serves Opelika’s 32,787 residents. Last year it lent 287K books, movies and e-books and logged 402K visits.
The short version on Opelika’s library
Opelika ranks 2nd in Alabama for library use
Out of 71 Alabama towns with a library of their own, Opelika comes 2nd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Opelika Public Library ran 1,717 programs last year, about 33 a week. That’s 52 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 32,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 84% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Opelika’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Opelika is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #11 of 156 in Alabama. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
146 community nonprofits are registered in Opelika
4.5 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 (49 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.
4.5%
4.5% of Opelika’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 Opelika’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Opelika last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Opelika Public Library serves 32,787 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 95 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
287K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
75,318 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Opelika Public Library, 200 South 6th Street, Opelika.
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 Opelika? 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 $2.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Opelika cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 16,147 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opelika | Opelika Public Library fine-free | 8.7 | 58 | B |
| Auburn | Auburn Public Library fine-free | 8.3 | 68 | C− |
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 Opelika
Does Opelika have a public library?
Yes. Opelika Public Library, 200 South 6th Street, serves Opelika’s 32,787 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Opelika 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 Opelika’s library?
It logged 12.3 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Opelika’s civic life grade?
B Opelika is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 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 Opelika.
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.