Jacob Magee House · Photo: Altairisfar (Jeffrey Reed) · CC BY-SA 3.0Prichard’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Prichard Public Library serves Prichard’s 18,870 residents from 2 locations. Last year it logged 3,210 visits.
Prichard’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
32,600 cards for 18,870 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Prichard Public Library offered 40 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Prichard Public Library spends $9 per resident, less than 97% 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 Prichard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Prichard is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #149 of 156 in Alabama. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Prichard’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Prichard Public Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($27K–$46K) 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Prichard
2.6 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 (42 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.
2.6%
2.6% of Prichard’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 Prichard’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Prichard Public Library serves 18,870 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Prichard Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 730 items borrowed against 3,210 visits, so we leave the count out.
40 programs a year
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.
2 places to borrow in Prichard
Prichard Public Library, 300 Lovejoy Loop West, Prichard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Prichard? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Prichard
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prichard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $163K.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 32,600 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.
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Prichard Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Prichard
Does Prichard have a public library?
Yes. Prichard Public Library, 300 Lovejoy Loop West, serves Prichard’s 18,870 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Prichard Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Prichard’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Prichard’s civic life grade?
D− Prichard is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #149 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 Prichard.
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.