Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0Albany’s library is a branch of Dougherty County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 70% of systems its size
Albany’s library is the Central Library, a branch of Dougherty County Public Library, which serves 82,793 people and lent 229K items last year.
Albany’s library, in brief
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Library of Albany has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 40,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Five branches in Albany
Albany has five branches of the Dougherty County Public Library, which serves 82,793 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Albany’s library is a branch of Dougherty County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (82,793 people), not just the Albany branch.
What’s behind Albany’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Albany is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #76 of 222 in Georgia. Albany’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) 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 →
350 community nonprofits are registered in Albany
5.2 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 (140 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.3%
4.3% of Albany’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.9% in the typical Georgia 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 Albany’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Central Library, 300 Pine Avenue, Albany.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Dougherty County Public Library branch.
New in Albany? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library of Albany
Carnegie Library of Albany was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 15, 1982. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neoclassical.
More about the building →Other Dougherty County Public Library branches in Albany
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dougherty County Public Library serves 82,793 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dougherty County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
229K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
43,647 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Albany cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.3M 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 43,985 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Central Library is one branch of Dougherty County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 82,793 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 Albany
Does Albany have a public library?
Yes: Central Library, 300 Pine Avenue, is a branch of Dougherty County Public Library, which serves 82,793 people. The branch is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dougherty County 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 Albany’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Albany’s civic life grade?
C Albany is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 of 222 in Georgia. 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 Albany.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.