Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Crane’s library lends 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Crane County Library serves 4,574 people in and around Crane. Last year it lent 7,384 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,000 visits.
Crane’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 58 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 43 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Crane County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 70% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Crane County Library serves 4,574 people in and around Crane, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Crane’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Crane is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #183 of 539 in Texas. Crane is graded on two of the three inputs. Crane’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$91K) 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 Crane
8.0 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.2%
2.2% of Crane’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 Crane’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Crane County Library serves 4,574 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Crane County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,384 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
362 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Crane County Library, 701 S Alford St., Crane.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Crane County Library branch.
New in Crane? 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 Crane cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $316K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $120K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $316K 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 521 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Crane County Library serves 4,574 people in and around Crane, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Crane.
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 Crane
Does Crane have a public library?
Yes. Crane County Library, 701 S Alford St., serves 4,574 people in and around Crane (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crane County Library 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 Crane’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Crane’s civic life grade?
C+ Crane is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #183 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 Crane.
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.