President's House · Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Commerce’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Commerce Public Library serves Commerce’s 22,287 residents. Last year it logged 12K visits.
What Commerce’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Commerce Public Library offered 67 programs last year, 3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Commerce Public Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 67 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 32 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Commerce’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Commerce is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #431 of 539 in Texas. Commerce is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Commerce’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Commerce Public Library spends $7 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Commerce
2.2 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.8%
4.8% of Commerce’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 Commerce’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Commerce Public Library serves 22,287 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Commerce Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 3,514 items borrowed against 12K visits, so we leave the count out.
67 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, 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
Commerce Public Library, 1210 Park St., Commerce.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Commerce? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Commerce cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $167K.
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 6,700 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Commerce
Does Commerce have a public library?
Yes. Commerce Public Library, 1210 Park St., serves Commerce’s 22,287 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Commerce 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 Commerce’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Commerce’s civic life grade?
D Commerce is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #431 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 Commerce.
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.