Photo: Rivers Langley; SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Union Springs’ library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Union Springs Public Library serves 10,202 people in and around Union Springs. Last year it logged 3,927 visits.
What Union Springs’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Union Springs Public Library offered 12 programs last year, 1.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Alabama pays a big share
26% of the budget comes from the state, and 66% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Union Springs Public Library spends $4 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; Union Springs Public Library serves 10,202 people in and around Union Springs, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Union Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Union Springs is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #109 of 156 in Alabama. Union Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Union Springs’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Union Springs Public Library spends $4 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($20K–$33K) 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Union Springs
3.5 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 (3 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.
1.3%
1.3% of Union Springs’ 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 Union Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Union Springs Public Library serves 10,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Union Springs Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Union Springs Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 1,075 items borrowed against 3,927 visits, so we leave the count out.
12 programs a year
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.
Find it
Union Springs Public Library, 103 North Prairie Street, Union Springs.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Union Springs Public Library branch.
New in Union Springs? 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 Union Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $37K.
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 2,699 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Union Springs Public Library serves 10,202 people in and around Union Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Union Springs.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Union Springs
Does Union Springs have a public library?
Yes. Union Springs Public Library, 103 North Prairie Street, serves 10,202 people in and around Union Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union Springs 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 Union Springs’ library?
It logged 0.4 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Union Springs’ civic life grade?
D Union Springs is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #109 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 Union Springs.
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.