Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Canyon’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Canyon Area Library serves 44,639 people in and around Canyon. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Canyon’s library
Canyon Area Library is used less than most libraries its size
Canyon Area Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Canyon Area Library spends $10 per resident, less than 95% 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; Canyon Area Library serves 44,639 people in and around Canyon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Canyon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Canyon is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #75 of 539 in Texas. Canyon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Canyon’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
78 community nonprofits are registered in Canyon
5.0 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of Canyon’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 Canyon’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.
Canyon Area Library serves 44,639 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Canyon Area Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,977 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
Canyon Area Library, 1501 3rd Ave, Canyon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Canyon Area Library branch.
New in Canyon? 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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Canyon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $465K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $465K 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 10,296 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Canyon Area Library serves 44,639 people in and around Canyon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Canyon.
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 Canyon
Does Canyon have a public library?
Yes. Canyon Area Library, 1501 3rd Ave, serves 44,639 people in and around Canyon (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Canyon Area 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 Canyon’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Canyon’s civic life grade?
B+ Canyon is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Canyon.
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.