Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Comfort’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Comfort Public Library serves 16,529 people in and around Comfort. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Comfort’s library
Comfort Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Comfort Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 66%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 229 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 101 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Comfort Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Comfort Public Library serves 16,529 people in and around Comfort, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Comfort’s civic life grade
Comfort isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Comfort Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Comfort
Comfort is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.4%
5.4% of Comfort’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 Comfort’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Comfort Public Library serves 16,529 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Comfort Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,370 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Comfort Public Library, 701 High St., Comfort.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Comfort Public Library branch.
New in Comfort? 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 $1.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Comfort cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $241K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $241K 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 1,857 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Comfort Public Library serves 16,529 people in and around Comfort, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Comfort.
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 Comfort
Does Comfort have a public library?
Yes. Comfort Public Library, 701 High St., serves 16,529 people in and around Comfort (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Comfort 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 Comfort’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Comfort’s civic life grade?
Comfort isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Comfort Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Comfort.
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.