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Comanche Public Library

Comanche’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

Comanche Public Library serves Comanche’s 9,098 residents. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.

311 N Austin St., Comanche 76442 · about 50 hours a week
BCivic lifeAhead of 63% of U.S. towns · #91 of 539 in Texas. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
11K
1.2 per resident
Visits a year
14K
1.5 per resident · Below typical (3)
Programs & events
101
about 2 a week · 3,463 attended
Cardholders
48%
4,346 cards
Open
50 hrs
a week

What stands out about Comanche’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Comanche’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Comanche is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #91 of 539 in Texas. Comanche is graded on two of the three inputs. Comanche’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Comanche’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 63%
FewerMore
Texas towns we grade (539)Ahead of 83%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $39K–$65K (5,528)Ahead of 59%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Comanche is small (4,420 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

44 community nonprofits are registered in Comanche

10.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture40.93 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation30.70 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans61.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services133.03 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education51.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health51.16 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals20.47 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other61.40 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

5.6%

5.6% of Comanche’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 Comanche’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

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.

Visits per resident 1.5 visits · typical 3Lower than 77%
Borrowing per resident 1 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 89%
Digital borrowing 0.2 e-items · typical 1Lower than 84%
Kids’ borrowing 0.5 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 83%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 60%
Programs offered 11.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 83%
Cardholders 48% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 59%
Spending $23 per resident · typical $43Lower than 80%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Comanche Public Library serves 9,098 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

14K
visits
1.5 per resident
11K
loans, print + digital
1.2 per resident
101
programs & events
3,463 attended
4,346
library cards
48% of people served
Every open hour4items borrowed
Every week67people at a program
Every week268visits
4 staff (full-time equivalent)10 public computers22K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

11Kloans
Books & media (adults) 43%Kids’ books & media 40%E-books, audio & streaming 17%
How hard the shelves work
0.4×

Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.

From your couch

1,891 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 1 kids’ program a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Comanche →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–550
Ages 6–1110
Teens13
Adults11
All ages17
Little ones
1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
3

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Comanche last year.

3,463
people at programs
101
programs
The building

Find it

Comanche Public Library, 311 N Austin St., Comanche.

50
hours open a week
4,500
square feet
22K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Comanche? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Comanche cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$23 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $212K.

Local taxes 95%Gifts & other 5%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $198K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $212K 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 4,346 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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 Comanche

Does Comanche have a public library?

Yes. Comanche Public Library, 311 N Austin St., serves Comanche’s 9,098 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Comanche 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 Comanche’s library?

It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Comanche’s civic life grade?

B Comanche is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Comanche.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.