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Carrabelle city limit US98 WBPhoto: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0
Franklin County Public Library/Carrabelle Branch · part of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries

Carrabelle’s library is a branch of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size

Carrabelle’s library is the Franklin County Public Library/Carrabelle Branch, a branch of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, which serves 61,534 people and lent 92K items last year.

311 Street James Avenue, Carrabelle 32322
C+Civic lifeAhead of 37% of U.S. towns · #95 of 273 in Florida. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (850) 697-2366 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
92K
1.5 per resident
Visits a year
104K
1.7 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
1,079
about 21 a week · 18K attended
Cardholders
37%
22,465 cards
In brief

Carrabelle’s library, in brief

Florida pays a big share

40% of the budget comes from the state, and 59% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Programs lean toward adults

60% of the 1,079 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 326 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; Carrabelle’s library is a branch of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, so they cover the whole system (61,534 people), not just the Carrabelle branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Carrabelle’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Carrabelle is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #95 of 273 in Florida. Carrabelle is graded on two of the three inputs. Carrabelle’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Carrabelle’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA−Community nonprofits6.6 per 1,000 residents · FL towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7D−Volunteering2.7% of adults 25–44 · FL towns 5.6% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 37%
FewerMore
Florida towns we grade (273)Ahead of 65%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $37K–$62K (4,894)Ahead of 37%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Carrabelle is small (2,572 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

16 community nonprofits are registered in Carrabelle

6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture20.82 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation31.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans31.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services52.05 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other31.23 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 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.

Volunteering

2.7%

2.7% of Carrabelle’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Carrabelle’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.7 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 72%
Borrowing per resident 1.5 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 80%
Program attendance 0.3 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 56%
Programs offered 17.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 62%
Cardholders 37% of residents · typical 39%Lower than 57%
Spending $35 per resident · typical $40Lower than 57%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Wilderness Coast Public Libraries serves 61,534 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

A year at Wilderness Coast Public Libraries

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wilderness Coast Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.

104K
visits
1.7 per resident
92K
loans, print + digital
1.5 per resident
1,079
programs & events
18K attended
22K
library cards
37% of people served
Every week340people at a program
Every week1,999visits
21 staff (full-time equivalent)54 public computers

Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.

What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

92K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Carrabelle’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

About 6 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Carrabelle →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5178
Ages 6–11148
Teens14
Adults644
All ages95
Little ones
3.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

18K
people at programs
1,079
programs
The building

Find it

Franklin County Public Library/Carrabelle Branch, 311 Street James Avenue, Carrabelle.

Directions(850) 697-2366
5,000
square feet
With a card

Good at every Wilderness Coast Public Libraries branch.

New in Carrabelle? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Carrabelle cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$35 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.2M.

Local taxes 59%State 40%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 22,465 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
  • Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
  • System-wide. Franklin County Public Library/Carrabelle Branch is one branch of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 61,534 people it serves.

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 Carrabelle

Does Carrabelle have a public library?

Yes: Franklin County Public Library/Carrabelle Branch, 311 Street James Avenue, is a branch of Wilderness Coast Public Libraries, which serves 61,534 people.

Is Wilderness Coast Public Libraries fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Carrabelle’s library?

It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Carrabelle’s civic life grade?

C+ Carrabelle is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #95 of 273 in Florida. 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 Carrabelle.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.