Copperas Cove Stagestop and Post Office · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Copperas Cove’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Copperas Cove Public Library serves Copperas Cove’s 38,696 residents. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 63K visits.
What Copperas Cove’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 66% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Copperas Cove Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). 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.
What’s behind Copperas Cove’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Copperas Cove is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #381 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Copperas Cove’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Copperas Cove Public Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) 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 →
104 community nonprofits are registered in Copperas Cove
2.7 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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Copperas Cove’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 Copperas Cove’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Copperas Cove Public Library serves 38,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 52K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
14,382 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Copperas Cove last year.
Find it
Copperas Cove Public Library, 501 S Main St., Copperas Cove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Copperas Cove? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Copperas Cove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $515K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $515K 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 18,137 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copperas Cove | Copperas Cove Public Library fine-free | 2.0 | 48 | D |
| Fort Cavazos | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Copperas Cove
Does Copperas Cove have a public library?
Yes. Copperas Cove Public Library, 501 S Main St., serves Copperas Cove’s 38,696 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Copperas Cove 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 Copperas Cove’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Copperas Cove’s civic life grade?
D Copperas Cove is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #381 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 Copperas Cove.
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.