Photo: Cayla.campPR · CC BY-SA 4.0Petal’s library is a branch of The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size
Petal’s library is the Petal Public Library, a branch of The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C, which serves 78,208 people and lent 348K items last year.
What stands out about Petal Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Petal’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Petal is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #24 of 85 in Mississippi. Petal is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Petal’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Petal
2.3 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 (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.
8.2%
8.2% of Petal’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.4% in the typical Mississippi 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 Petal’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C serves 78,208 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 76 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
348K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
106,669 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Petal Public Library, 714 South Main Street, Petal.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C branch.
New in Petal? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petal cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 28,439 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petal | Petal Public Library | — | 38 | C |
| Hattiesburg | Hattiesburg Public Library | — | 51 | 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.
- System-wide. Petal Public Library is one branch of The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 78,208 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 Petal
Does Petal have a public library?
Yes: Petal Public Library, 714 South Main Street, is a branch of The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C, which serves 78,208 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal & Forrest C 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 Petal’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Petal’s civic life grade?
C Petal is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 of 85 in Mississippi. 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 Petal.
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.