Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Conroe’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Montgomery County Memorial Library System serves 705,126 people in and around Conroe from 2 locations. Last year it lent 2.9M books, movies and e-books and logged 788K visits.
The short version on Conroe’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Montgomery County Memorial Library System offered 3,025 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Montgomery County Memorial Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Montgomery County Memorial Library System serves 705,126 people in and around Conroe, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Conroe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Conroe is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #312 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #209. Conroe is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Conroe’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Montgomery County Memorial Library System spends $17 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
317 community nonprofits are registered in Conroe
3.1 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 (130 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of Conroe’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 Conroe’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Montgomery County Memorial Library System serves 705,126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 133 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montgomery County Memorial Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
512,543 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 26 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.
2 places to borrow in Conroe
Montgomery County Memorial Library System, 104 I 45 N, Conroe.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Montgomery County Memorial Library System branch.
New in Conroe? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Montgomery County Memorial Library System branches in Conroe
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Conroe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 390,018 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conroe | Montgomery County Memorial Library System | — | 59 | C− |
| The Woodlands | George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library | — | 59 | — unincorporated |
| Willis | Rf Meador Branch Library | — | 50 | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Montgomery County Memorial Library System serves 705,126 people in and around Conroe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Conroe.
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 Conroe
Does Conroe have a public library?
Yes. Montgomery County Memorial Library System, 104 I 45 N, serves 705,126 people in and around Conroe (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montgomery County Memorial Library System 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 Conroe’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Conroe’s civic life grade?
C− Conroe is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #312 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 Conroe.
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.