Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Coleman’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Coleman Public Library serves 7,842 people in and around Coleman. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Coleman’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
10,886 cards for 7,842 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Coleman Public Library offered 36 programs last year, 4.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 8% 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; Coleman Public Library serves 7,842 people in and around Coleman, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Coleman’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Coleman is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #134 of 539 in Texas. Coleman is graded on two of the three inputs. Coleman’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
31 community nonprofits are registered in Coleman
7.8 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.7%
4.7% of Coleman’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 Coleman’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Coleman Public Library serves 7,842 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Coleman Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
922 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
36 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
Coleman Public Library, 402 S Commercial Ave, Coleman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Coleman Public Library branch.
New in Coleman? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coleman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $185K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $208K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $185K 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 10,886 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Coleman Public Library serves 7,842 people in and around Coleman, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Coleman.
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 Coleman
Does Coleman have a public library?
Yes. Coleman Public Library, 402 S Commercial Ave, serves 7,842 people in and around Coleman (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coleman 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 Coleman’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Coleman’s civic life grade?
B− Coleman is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 Coleman.
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.