Tanner Farmhouse · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Semmes’ library is a branch of Mobile Public Library, which lends less per resident than 51% of systems its size
Semmes’s library is the Semmes Branch, a branch of Mobile Public Library, which serves 371,984 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What stands out about Semmes Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Semmes’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Semmes is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #150 of 156 in Alabama. Semmes is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 Semmes
1.3 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.
4.3%
4.3% of Semmes’ 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 Semmes’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mobile Public Library serves 371,984 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mobile Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1.2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 33 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Semmes Branch, 9150 Moffett Road, Mobile.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mobile Public Library branch.
New in Semmes? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Semmes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 138,405 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semmes | Semmes Branch | — | 49 | D− |
| Mobile | Mobile Public Library - Ben May Main Library | — | 59 | C |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Semmes Branch is one branch of Mobile Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 371,984 people it serves.
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 Semmes
Does Semmes have a public library?
Yes: Semmes Branch, 9150 Moffett Road, is a branch of Mobile Public Library, which serves 371,984 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mobile 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 Semmes’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Semmes’ civic life grade?
D− Semmes is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #150 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 Semmes.
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.