Hooker County Courthouse · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMullen’s library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Hooker County Library serves 679 people in and around Mullen. Last year it lent 5,784 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,780 visits.
What Mullen’s library is like
More library cards than residents
928 cards for 679 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
The Mullen branch keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Hooker County Library serves 679 people in and around Mullen, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mullen’s civic life grade
Mullen 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 →
43% of borrowing is digital
5,784 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,472 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hooker County Library serves 679 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hooker County Library system. The library’s own count.
49 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Hooker County Library, 102 North Cleveland Avenue, Mullen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hooker County Library branch.
New in Mullen? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mullen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $91K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 928 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hooker County Library serves 679 people in and around Mullen, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mullen.
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 Mullen
Does Mullen have a public library?
Yes. Hooker County Library, 102 North Cleveland Avenue, serves 679 people in and around Mullen (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hooker County 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 Mullen’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mullen’s civic life grade?
Mullen 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 Mullen.
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.