Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Russellville’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Russellville Public Library serves Russellville’s 19,749 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Russellville’s library
Russellville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Russellville Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Russellville Public Library offered 54 programs last year, 2.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Russellville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Russellville Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Russellville Public Library holds 35,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Russellville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Russellville is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #146 of 156 in Alabama. Russellville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Russellville’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Russellville Public Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$73K) 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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in Russellville
2.1 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 (12 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.
3.2%
3.2% of Russellville’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 Russellville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Russellville Public Library serves 19,749 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,143 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
54 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Russellville last year.
Find it
Russellville Public Library, 110 East Lawrence Street, Russellville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Russellville? 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 $1.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Russellville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $213K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $313K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $213K 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 3,323 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Russellville
Does Russellville have a public library?
Yes. Russellville Public Library, 110 East Lawrence Street, serves Russellville’s 19,749 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Russellville 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 Russellville’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Russellville’s civic life grade?
D− Russellville is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #146 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 Russellville.
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.