Photo: William Matheson · CC BY-SA 2.0Houston Public Library draws 3.3 visits per person served, behind 79% of British Columbia’s town libraries
A single building, Houston Public Library, serves 3,114 people. The figures come from British Columbia’s public library statistics for 2025, as the library filed them.
A−Civic life#91 of 254 in British ColumbiaBehind Houston’s civic life grade
Houston gets a A− for civic life, #91 of 254 towns graded in British Columbia. All three civic life inputs exist for Houston: library visits per resident, charities per 1,000 residents and the provincial volunteering rate.
Informal groups and mutual aid go uncounted.
Sources: provincial statistics, the CRA, Statistics Canada.
Houston mailing addresses hold 16 registered charities
It works out to 5.1 per 1,000 residents, where the typical British Columbia town has 1.2 and Canada’s 1.4. The CRA files each charity under its mailing address, so a service town collects its region’s charities and a suburb or rural municipality few.
36.9%
The 2023 survey gives British Columbia one volunteering rate for all its towns, 36.9% (between 35.2% and 38.7%), while provinces run from 25.2% at the low end to 40.3%.
Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0039.
Behind most of British Columbia’s town libraries on all 2 measures
Measured per person served against the 32 town libraries of British Columbia’s 2025 statistics.
Town libraries only; regional systems left out.
About 28 visits a day
The year 2025 at Houston Public Library, in the library’s own counts.
Houston’s public library
Sorted by straight-line distance from the centre of Houston.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Library locations. The points are public libraries only, drawn from OpenStreetMap and from Statistics Canada’s list of cultural facilities (2020).
Questions about the library and civic life in Houston
Does Houston have a public library?
Yes: Houston Public Library.
How busy is Houston Public Library?
It counted 10,313 in-person visits in 2025.
Library statistics: BC Public Libraries Statistics, 2025. Library locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Statistics Canada, Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities (2020). Charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities (2024), charitable organizations only.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).