Potton-Hayden House · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Big Spring’s library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Howard County Library serves 30,554 people in and around Big Spring. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
What Big Spring’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Howard County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 216 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Howard County Library lends 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, fewer than 89% 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; Howard County Library serves 30,554 people in and around Big Spring, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Big Spring’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Big Spring is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #296 of 539 in Texas. Big Spring is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Big Spring’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Howard County Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$84K) 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 →
87 community nonprofits are registered in Big Spring
3.6 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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Big Spring’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 Big Spring’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Howard County Library serves 30,554 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Howard County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,663 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Howard County Library, 500 S Main St., Big Spring.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Howard County Library branch.
New in Big Spring? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Spring cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $575K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $564K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $575K 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 4,614 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Howard County Library serves 30,554 people in and around Big Spring, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Big Spring.
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 Big Spring
Does Big Spring have a public library?
Yes. Howard County Library, 500 S Main St., serves 30,554 people in and around Big Spring (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Howard County 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 Big Spring’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Big Spring’s civic life grade?
C− Big Spring is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #296 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 Big Spring.
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.