Allen’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Allen Public Library serves Allen’s 807 residents. Last year it lent 3,560 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,423 visits.
The short version on Allen’s library
More library cards than residents
2,441 cards for 807 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 ↓
A small-town library
Allen Public Library serves 807 residents with about one 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 ↓
A place to get online
Allen Public Library logs about 19 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 4 public computers. That’s 8.6 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 Allen’s civic life grade
Allen 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Allen Public Library serves 807 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,560 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
689 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
42 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 Allen last year.
Find it
Allen Public Library, 214 East Broadway, Allen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Allen? 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 $1.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Allen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $46K 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 2,441 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Allen Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Allen
Does Allen have a public library?
Yes. Allen Public Library, 214 East Broadway, serves Allen’s 807 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Allen Public Library 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 Allen’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Allen’s civic life grade?
Allen 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 Allen.
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.