Photo: AllenS · Public domainTatum’s library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Tatum Community Library serves Tatum’s 706 residents. Last year it lent 654 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,564 visits.
The short version on Tatum’s library
Well funded, but lightly used
Tatum Community Library spends $158 per resident, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Use doesn’t match: visits per resident are lower than at 48% of them. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Tatum Community Library serves 706 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 31 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 ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Tatum Community Library lends 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 92% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
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 Tatum’s civic life grade
Tatum 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 →
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tatum cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $112K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $112K 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 249 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Tatum Community Library serves 706 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Tatum Community Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
654 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
36 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 Tatum last year.
Find it
Tatum Community Library, 323 E. Broadway, Tatum.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tatum? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 Tatum
Does Tatum have a public library?
Yes. Tatum Community Library, 323 E. Broadway, serves Tatum’s 706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tatum Community 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 Tatum’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Tatum’s civic life grade?
Tatum 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 Tatum.
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.