Hobson City’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hobson City Public Library serves Hobson City’s 750 residents. Last year it lent 829 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,480 visits.
What Hobson City’s library is like
Most of Hobson City’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 59% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Hobson City Public Library serves 750 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Hobson City has a card
722 cards for 750 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Federal money pays a real share
17% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 79% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Hobson City Public Library logs about 9 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 4.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Hobson City’s civic life grade
Hobson City 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 →
59% of borrowing is digital
829 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,390 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
487 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hobson City Public Library serves 750 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Hobson City Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
41 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hobson City last year.
Find it
Hobson City Public Library, 610 Martin Luther King Drive, Hobson City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hobson City? 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 Hobson City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $30K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 722 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.
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Hobson City
Does Hobson City have a public library?
Yes. Hobson City Public Library, 610 Martin Luther King Drive, serves Hobson City’s 750 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hobson City 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 Hobson City’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hobson City’s civic life grade?
Hobson City 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 Hobson City.
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.