Photo: Jakec · CC BY-SA 4.0Dallas’ library logs 3.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Back Mountain Memorial Library serves 36,101 people in and around Dallas. Last year it lent 93K books, movies and e-books and logged 134K visits.
Dallas’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
64% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
95% of the 191 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Back Mountain Memorial Library offered 191 programs last year, 5.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
The Dallas branch is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Back Mountain Memorial Library spends $13 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Back Mountain Memorial Library serves 36,101 people in and around Dallas, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dallas’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dallas is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #730 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Dallas is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Dallas’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Back Mountain Memorial Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$114K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Dallas
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Dallas’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Dallas’ residents live; 2022.
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.
Back Mountain Memorial Library serves 36,101 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Back Mountain Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
93K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,266 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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
Back Mountain Memorial Library, 96 Huntsville Rd, Dallas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Back Mountain Memorial Library branch.
New in Dallas? 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 $2.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dallas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $476K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $476K 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 27,764 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas | Back Mountain Memorial Library | — | 64 | C− |
| Dallas Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Back Mountain Memorial Library serves 36,101 people in and around Dallas, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dallas.
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 Dallas
Does Dallas have a public library?
Yes. Back Mountain Memorial Library, 96 Huntsville Rd, serves 36,101 people in and around Dallas (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Back Mountain Memorial 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 Dallas’ library?
It logged 3.7 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 Dallas’ civic life grade?
C− Dallas is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #730 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Dallas.
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.