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Coolidge City Hall Municipal BuildingPhoto: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0
Coolidge Public Library · part of Thomas County Public Library System

Coolidge’s library is a branch of Thomas County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size

Coolidge’s library is the Coolidge Public Library, a branch of Thomas County Public Library System, which serves 45,781 people and lent 120K items last year.

1029 E. Verbena Avenue, Coolidge 31738 · about 17 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
120K
2.6 per resident
Visits a year
108K
2.4 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
745
about 14 a week · 7,930 attended
Cardholders
52%
23,703 cards
Open
17 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Coolidge Public Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Coolidge’s civic life grade

Coolidge isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Coolidge’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.4 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 55%
Borrowing per resident 2.1 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 71%
Digital borrowing 0.5 e-items · typical 1.2Lower than 76%
Kids’ borrowing 1 kids’ items · typical 1.7Lower than 69%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 77%
Programs offered 16.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 57%
Cardholders 52% of residents · typical 39%Higher than 70%
Spending $31 per resident · typical $40Lower than 63%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Thomas County Public Library System serves 45,781 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Thomas County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.

108K
visits
2.4 per resident
120K
loans, print + digital
2.6 per resident
745
programs & events
7,930 attended
24K
library cards
52% of people served
Every open hour17items borrowed
Every week153people at a program
Every day32Wi-Fi sessions
19 staff (full-time equivalent)124 public computers
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

120K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

120Kloans
Books & media (adults) 44%Kids’ books & media 36%E-books, audio & streaming 20%
From your couch

23,650 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 6 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Coolidge →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–596
Ages 6–11234
Teens92
Adults244
All ages79
Little ones
1.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

44K
kids’ books & media borrowed
7,930
people at programs
745
programs
The building

Find it

Coolidge Public Library, 1029 E. Verbena Avenue, Coolidge.

17
hours open a week
2,000
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Thomas County Public Library System branch.

New in Coolidge? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.34 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coolidge cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$31 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.

Local taxes 73%State 15%Gifts & other 13%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M budget.

Late fines apply to some overdue items.

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 23,703 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Coolidge Public Library is one branch of Thomas County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 45,781 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 Coolidge

Does Coolidge have a public library?

Yes: Coolidge Public Library, 1029 E. Verbena Avenue, is a branch of Thomas County Public Library System, which serves 45,781 people. The branch is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Thomas County Public Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?

It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Coolidge’s library?

It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Coolidge’s civic life grade?

Coolidge 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 Coolidge.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.