Photo: Crimson Pictures · CC BY-SA 4.0Orange Beach’s library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Orange Beach Public Library serves Orange Beach’s 8,447 residents. Last year it lent 159K books, movies and e-books and logged 124K visits.
The short version on Orange Beach’s library
More library cards than residents
11,959 cards for 8,447 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Orange Beach has the most-used library in Alabama
Out of 71 Alabama towns with a library of their own, Orange Beach comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #1 for kids’ borrowing and #4 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
Orange Beach uses its library more than almost any town its size
Orange Beach Public Library logs 15 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 98% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 53 items per child in Orange Beach last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 19% of all loans. 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 Orange Beach’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Orange Beach is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #4 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Orange Beach
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Orange Beach’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 Orange Beach’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Orange Beach Public Library serves 8,447 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
159K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
30,403 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Orange Beach last year.
Find it
Orange Beach Public Library, 26267 Canal Road, Orange Beach.
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 Orange Beach? 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 $3.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orange Beach cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $780K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $780K 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 11,959 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Orange Beach borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Beach | Orange Beach Public Library fine-free | 18.8 | 50 | A− |
| Foley | Foley Public Library | 13.6 | 56 | C+ |
| Gulf Shores | Gulf Shores - Thomas B. Norton Public Library | 4.2 | 40 | 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 Orange Beach
Does Orange Beach have a public library?
Yes. Orange Beach Public Library, 26267 Canal Road, serves Orange Beach’s 8,447 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orange Beach 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 Orange Beach’s library?
It logged 14.7 visits and lent 18.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Orange Beach’s civic life grade?
A− Orange Beach is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 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 Orange Beach.
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.