Reform’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Reform Public Library serves Reform’s 1,469 residents. Last year it lent 748 books, movies and e-books and logged 624 visits.
Reform’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
3,732 cards for 1,469 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Reform Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Reform Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $32 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Reform Public Library serves 1,469 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 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 ↓
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 Reform’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Reform is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Reform’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Reform Public Library spends $32 per resident, against a typical $54 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 ($25K–$42K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Reform
2.8 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Reform’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 Reform’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.
Reform Public Library serves 1,469 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Reform Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
748 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Reform last year.
Find it
Reform Public Library, 302 First Street South, Reform.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Reform? 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 Reform cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K budget.
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 3,732 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. Reform 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 Reform
Does Reform have a public library?
Yes. Reform Public Library, 302 First Street South, serves Reform’s 1,469 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Reform 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 Reform’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Reform’s civic life grade?
D− Reform is ahead of 4% 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 Reform.
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.