Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 3.0Huntsville’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Huntsville Public Library serves 5,869 people in and around Huntsville. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 2,022 visits.
Huntsville’s library, in brief
Huntsville Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Huntsville Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $6 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
86% of the 70 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 10 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Huntsville Public Library spends $6 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Huntsville Public Library serves 5,869 people in and around Huntsville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Huntsville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Huntsville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns. Huntsville is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Huntsville’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Huntsville
1.8 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Huntsville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.7% in the typical Tennessee 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 Huntsville’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,155 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Huntsville Public Library serves 5,869 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Huntsville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
70 programs a year
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
Huntsville Public Library, 314 Court House Square, Huntsville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Huntsville Public Library branch.
New in Huntsville? 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 $5.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Huntsville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $33K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $193K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 1,643 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville | Huntsville Public Library fine-free | — | 27 | C |
| Helenwood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Huntsville Public Library serves 5,869 people in and around Huntsville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Huntsville.
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 Huntsville
Does Huntsville have a public library?
Yes. Huntsville Public Library, 314 Court House Square, serves 5,869 people in and around Huntsville (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Huntsville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Huntsville’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Huntsville’s civic life grade?
C Huntsville is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Huntsville.
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.