Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 4.0Alma’s library is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size
Alma’s library is the Alma-Bacon County Public Library, a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which serves 93,440 people and lent 126K items last year.
What Alma’s library is like
The Okefenokee Regional Library System is used less than most libraries its size
The Okefenokee Regional Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $18 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Georgia pays a big share
51% of the budget comes from the state, and 41% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Alma’s library is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, so they cover the whole system (93,440 people), not just the Alma branch.
What’s behind Alma’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Alma is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #185 of 222 in Georgia. Alma is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Alma’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Okefenokee Regional Library System spends $18 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$46K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Alma
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.8%
2.8% of Alma’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 Alma’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Okefenokee Regional Library System serves 93,440 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Okefenokee Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
126K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,172 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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.
Find it
Alma-Bacon County Public Library, 201 North Pierce Street, Alma.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Okefenokee Regional Library System branch.
New in Alma? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 19,756 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Alma-Bacon County Public Library is one branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 93,440 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 Alma
Does Alma have a public library?
Yes: Alma-Bacon County Public Library, 201 North Pierce Street, is a branch of Okefenokee Regional Library System, which serves 93,440 people. The branch is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Okefenokee Regional Library System 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 Alma’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Alma’s civic life grade?
D Alma is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #185 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 Alma.
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.