Photo: CZmarlin — This image is licensed under the Creative Commons license assuming that proper attribution (Christopher Ziemnowicz) is provided. If you use this image anywhere other than Wikipedia please leave a note at Wikipedia [1]. · CC BY 3.0Alderson’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Alderson Public Library serves 4,131 people in and around Alderson. Last year it lent 3,248 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,080 visits.
The short version on Alderson’s library
Alderson Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Alderson Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Alderson Public Library offered 15 programs last year, 3.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 37%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Alderson Public Library spends $16 per resident, less than 90% 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; Alderson Public Library serves 4,131 people in and around Alderson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Alderson’s civic life grade
Alderson 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Alderson Public Library serves 4,131 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Alderson Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,248 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Alderson’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
956 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
15 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
Alderson Public Library, 115 Walnut Ave., Alderson.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Alderson Public Library branch.
New in Alderson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alderson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $65K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $56K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $65K 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 2,863 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Alderson Public Library serves 4,131 people in and around Alderson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Alderson.
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 Alderson
Does Alderson have a public library?
Yes. Alderson Public Library, 115 Walnut Ave., serves 4,131 people in and around Alderson (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alderson Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Alderson’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Alderson’s civic life grade?
Alderson 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 Alderson.
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.