Photo: SBaker43 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lobelville’s library is a branch of Perry County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size
Lobelville’s library is the Lobelville Public Library, a branch of Perry County Public Library, which serves 8,891 people and lent 39K items last year.
What stands out about Lobelville Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lobelville’s civic life grade
Lobelville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Perry County Public Library serves 8,891 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Perry County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,177 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
46 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Lobelville Public Library, 55 S. Main Street, Lobelville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Perry County Public Library branch.
New in Lobelville? 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 $3.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lobelville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $618K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 1,759 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lobelville Public Library is one branch of Perry County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 8,891 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 Lobelville
Does Lobelville have a public library?
Yes: Lobelville Public Library, 55 S. Main Street, is a branch of Perry County Public Library, which serves 8,891 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Perry County 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 Lobelville’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lobelville’s civic life grade?
Lobelville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lobelville.
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.