Photo: Rbrko · CC BY-SA 4.0Gainesville’s library is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Gainesville’s library is the Headquarters Library, a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people and lent 2M items last year.
What stands out about Headquarters Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Gainesville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gainesville is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #5 of 273 in Florida. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #19. Gainesville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Gainesville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
746 community nonprofits are registered in Gainesville
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (233 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 37 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.2%
9.2% of Gainesville’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 Gainesville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pal Public Library Cooperative serves 416,905 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Pal Public Library Cooperative
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pal Public Library Cooperative system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2M 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 Gainesville’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 50 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.
5 places to borrow in Gainesville
Headquarters Library, 401 East University Avenue, Gainesville.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Pal Public Library Cooperative branches in Gainesville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gainesville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $35M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 240,614 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainesville | Headquarters Library | — | 53 | A− |
| Alachua | Alachua Branch | — | 50 | B+ |
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. Headquarters Library is one branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 416,905 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 Gainesville
Does Gainesville have a public library?
Yes: Headquarters Library, 401 East University Avenue, is a branch of Pal Public Library Cooperative, which serves 416,905 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pal Public Library Cooperative fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gainesville’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Gainesville’s civic life grade?
A− Gainesville is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Gainesville.
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.