Photo: Rivers A. Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Sylacauga’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sylacauga - B. B. Comer Memorial Library serves Sylacauga’s 12,278 residents. Last year it lent 240K print books and media and logged 50K visits.
What Sylacauga’s library is like
More library cards than residents
34,538 cards for 12,278 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Sylacauga ranks 2nd in Alabama for borrowing
Out of 70 Alabama towns with a library of their own, Sylacauga comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #2 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 40% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 33 items per child in Sylacauga last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 508 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 167 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Sylacauga’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sylacauga is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #50 of 156 in Alabama. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Sylacauga
3.9 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Sylacauga’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 Sylacauga’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
240K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 109K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sylacauga - B. B. Comer Memorial Library serves 12,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Sylacauga last year.
Find it
Sylacuga - B. B. Comer Memorial Library, 314 North Broadway Avenue, Sylacauga.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sylacauga? 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 $4.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sylacauga cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $851K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $851K 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 34,538 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylacauga | Sylacuga - B. B. Comer Memorial Library | 19.6 | 53 | C |
| Childersburg | Childersburg - Earle A. Rainwater Memorial Library | 17.2 | 48 | D |
| Mignon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Oak Grove | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Fayetteville | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Sylacauga
Does Sylacauga have a public library?
Yes. Sylacauga - B. B. Comer Memorial Library, 314 North Broadway Avenue, serves Sylacauga’s 12,278 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sylacauga - B. B. Comer Memorial 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 Sylacauga’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 19.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sylacauga’s civic life grade?
C Sylacauga is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 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 Sylacauga.
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.