Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Steele’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Steele Public Library serves Steele’s 8,051 residents. Last year it lent 1,362 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,619 visits.
What Steele’s library is like
Steele Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Steele Public Library records 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Steele Public Library offered 29 programs last year, 3.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Steele Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 97% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Alabama pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Steele’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Steele is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Steele is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Steele’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Steele Public Library spends $3 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$90K) 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 Steele
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.1%
4.1% of Steele’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 Steele’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.
Steele Public Library serves 8,051 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Steele Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,362 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,021 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
365 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
29 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 Steele last year.
Find it
Steele Public Library, 78 Hillview Street, Steele.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Steele? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Steele cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 1,068 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow City | Rainbow City Public Library | 8.0 | 53 | B |
| Steele | Steele Public Library | 0.2 | 30 | 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.
- 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 Steele
Does Steele have a public library?
Yes. Steele Public Library, 78 Hillview Street, serves Steele’s 8,051 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Steele 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 Steele’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Steele’s civic life grade?
D− Steele is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Steele.
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.