Photo: en:User:Billy Hathorn · CC BY 3.0Childress’ library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Childress Public Library serves 6,788 people in and around Childress. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
What Childress’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Childress Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Childress Public Library offered 15 programs last year, 2.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Childress Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 94% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 88% of similar-size libraries. 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; Childress Public Library serves 6,788 people in and around Childress, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Childress’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Childress is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #71 of 539 in Texas. Childress’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Childress
9.8 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Childress’ 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 Childress’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Childress Public Library serves 6,788 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Childress Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
775 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
15 programs a year
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
Childress Public Library, 117 Ave B NE, Childress.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Childress Public Library branch.
New in Childress? 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 $2.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Childress cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $85K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $211K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $85K 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 1,920 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. Childress Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Childress Public Library serves 6,788 people in and around Childress, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Childress.
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 Childress
Does Childress have a public library?
Yes. Childress Public Library, 117 Ave B NE, serves 6,788 people in and around Childress (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Childress Public 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 Childress’ library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Childress’ civic life grade?
B+ Childress is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #71 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 Childress.
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.