Foster Auditorium, The University of Alabama · Photo: Ttownfeen · Public domainTuscaloosa’s library logs 3.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Tuscaloosa Public Library serves 236,780 people in and around Tuscaloosa from 2 locations. Last year it lent 513K print books and media and logged 816K visits.
What stands out about Tuscaloosa Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Tuscaloosa’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Tuscaloosa is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #72 of 156 in Alabama. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #199. Tuscaloosa is graded on two of the three inputs. Tuscaloosa’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Tuscaloosa Public Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$64K) 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 →
449 community nonprofits are registered in Tuscaloosa
4.0 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 (114 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.3%
4.3% of Tuscaloosa’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 Tuscaloosa’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 82 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tuscaloosa Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tuscaloosa Public Library serves 236,780 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
513K 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 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa Public Library, 1801 Jack Warner Parkway, Tuscaloosa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tuscaloosa Public Library branch.
New in Tuscaloosa? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Tuscaloosa Public Library branches in Tuscaloosa
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tuscaloosa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M 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 49,150 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuscaloosa | Tuscaloosa Public Library fine-free | — | 49 | C− |
| Holt | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Northport | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Cottondale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Vance | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Brookwood | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Tuscaloosa Public Library serves 236,780 people in and around Tuscaloosa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Tuscaloosa.
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 Tuscaloosa
Does Tuscaloosa have a public library?
Yes. Tuscaloosa Public Library, 1801 Jack Warner Parkway, serves 236,780 people in and around Tuscaloosa (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tuscaloosa 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 Tuscaloosa’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Tuscaloosa’s civic life grade?
C− Tuscaloosa is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Tuscaloosa.
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.