Newman, E.L., Lustron House · Photo: themidnite · CC BY-SA 3.0Sheffield’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Sheffield Public Library serves 13,512 people in and around Sheffield. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 16K visits.
What Sheffield’s library is like
Sheffield Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sheffield Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sheffield Public Library offered 27 programs last year, 2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 59% of loans. Print still makes up 41%. What people borrow ↓
84% of the people it serves carry a library card
11,345 cards for 13,512 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Sheffield Public Library serves 13,512 people in and around Sheffield, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sheffield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sheffield is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #119 of 156 in Alabama. Sheffield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sheffield’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Sheffield Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($30K–$50K) 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 Sheffield
2.5 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 (11 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.
5.0%
5.0% of Sheffield’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 Sheffield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sheffield Public Library serves 13,512 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sheffield Public Library system. The library’s own count.
59% of borrowing is digital
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,484 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
27 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Sheffield Public Library, 316 North Montgomery Avenue, Sheffield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sheffield Public Library branch.
New in Sheffield? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sheffield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $292K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $491K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $292K 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 11,345 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muscle Shoals | Muscle Shoals Public Library | 9.4 | 44 | C− |
| Tuscumbia | Tuscumbia - Helen Keller Public Library | 1.7 | 35 | D |
| Sheffield | Sheffield Public Library | — | 35 | D |
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.
- System-wide. Sheffield Public Library serves 13,512 people in and around Sheffield, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sheffield.
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 Sheffield
Does Sheffield have a public library?
Yes. Sheffield Public Library, 316 North Montgomery Avenue, serves 13,512 people in and around Sheffield (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sheffield 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 Sheffield’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sheffield’s civic life grade?
D Sheffield is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #119 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 Sheffield.
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.