Photo: Myself - Nathon Morris · Public domainVernon’s library runs 90 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb Memorial Library serves Vernon’s 1,863 residents. Last year it lent 7,625 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,014 visits.
The short version on Vernon’s library
A small-town library
Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb Memorial Library serves 1,863 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 43 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 168 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 65 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Vernon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Vernon is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($21K–$35K) 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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Vernon
1.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.1%
4.1% of Vernon’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 Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb Memorial Library serves 1,863 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,625 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,408 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Vernon last year.
Find it
Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb Memorial Library, 110 First Avenue West, Vernon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Vernon? 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 $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vernon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $94K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $138K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $94K 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 615 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 Vernon
Does Vernon have a public library?
Yes. Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb Memorial Library, 110 First Avenue West, serves Vernon’s 1,863 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vernon - Mary Wallace Cobb 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 Vernon’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Vernon’s civic life grade?
D Vernon is ahead of 10% 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 Vernon.
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.