Slocomb’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Slocomb Public Library serves Slocomb’s 6,076 residents. Last year it lent 3,755 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,000 visits.
The short version on Slocomb’s library
Slocomb Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Slocomb Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $5 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Slocomb Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Slocomb Public Library spends $5 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Slocomb’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Slocomb has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Slocomb is graded on two of the three inputs. Slocomb’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Slocomb Public Library spends $5 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Slocomb
1.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.5%
2.5% of Slocomb’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 Slocomb’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Slocomb Public Library serves 6,076 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,755 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
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 Slocomb last year.
Find it
Slocomb Public Library, 134 South Dalton Avenue, Slocomb.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Slocomb? 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 $2.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Slocomb cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $62K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 1,413 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 Slocomb
Does Slocomb have a public library?
Yes. Slocomb Public Library, 134 South Dalton Avenue, serves Slocomb’s 6,076 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Slocomb Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Slocomb’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Slocomb’s civic life grade?
D− Slocomb has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Slocomb.
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.