Photo: CityofAllen · CC BY-SA 4.0Allen’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Allen Public Library serves Allen’s 111,620 residents. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 290K visits.
The short version on Allen’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 72% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Allen last year. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 139,000 items on the shelves went out about 6.6 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Top 10% in Texas for kids’ borrowing
Allen ranks #13 of 183 Texas towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Allen is a town of borrowers
Allen Public Library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 6.6 times last year. 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.
What’s behind Allen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Allen is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #174 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #110. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
413 community nonprofits are registered in Allen
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (120 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 33 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Allen’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Allen’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Allen Public Library serves 111,620 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 398 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 139K books and other items on the shelves went out about 6.6 times last year, on average.
150,951 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Allen Public Library, 300 N Allen Dr, Allen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. 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 $3.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Allen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 43,404 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Allen ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- 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 Allen
Does Allen have a public library?
Yes. Allen Public Library, 300 N Allen Dr, serves Allen’s 111,620 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 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 2.6 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Allen’s civic life grade?
C+ Allen is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #174 of 539 in Texas. 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 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.