Photo: Chris Pruitt · CC BY-SA 4.0Piedmont’s library logs 7.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Piedmont Public Library serves Piedmont’s 4,708 residents. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
Piedmont’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 88% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 28%. The building also logs about 15 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Top 10% in Alabama for library use
Piedmont ranks #6 of 71 Alabama towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 7.7 visits per resident, more than at 88% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 113 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Piedmont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Piedmont is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #45 of 156 in Alabama. Library visits hold the grade up; Piedmont’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$51K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Piedmont
1.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Piedmont’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 Piedmont’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Piedmont Public Library serves 4,708 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
1,889 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Piedmont last year.
Find it
Piedmont Public Library, 106 North Main Street, Piedmont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Piedmont? 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 $1.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Piedmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $142K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $242K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $142K 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 1,884 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Piedmont Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Piedmont
Does Piedmont have a public library?
Yes. Piedmont Public Library, 106 North Main Street, serves Piedmont’s 4,708 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Piedmont 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 Piedmont’s library?
It logged 7.7 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Piedmont’s civic life grade?
C Piedmont is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Piedmont.
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.