Edmund Pettus Bridge · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainSelma’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Selma - Dallas County Public Library serves Selma’s 36,767 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
Selma’s library, in brief
Selma - Dallas County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Selma - Dallas County Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Selma has a card
34,997 cards for 36,767 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
38% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 55%. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Selma - Dallas County Public Library offered 227 programs last year, 6.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Selma - Dallas County Public Library holds 38,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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 Selma’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Selma is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #7 of 156 in Alabama. Selma is graded on two of the three inputs. Selma’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
155 community nonprofits are registered in Selma
9.1 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 (40 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Selma’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 Selma’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Selma - Dallas County Public Library serves 36,767 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
6,306 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 Selma last year.
Find it
Selma - Dallas County Public Library, 1103 Selma Avenue, Selma.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Selma? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Selma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $598K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $670K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $598K 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 34,997 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selma | Selma - Dallas County Public Library | 0.7 | 41 | B+ |
| Valley Grande | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Selmont-West Selmont | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Selma
Does Selma have a public library?
Yes. Selma - Dallas County Public Library, 1103 Selma Avenue, serves Selma’s 36,767 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Selma - Dallas County 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 Selma’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Selma’s civic life grade?
B+ Selma is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Selma.
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.