Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Crowell’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Foard County Library serves 1,079 people in and around Crowell. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,825 visits.
What Crowell’s library is like
Busy on a lean budget
Foard County Library spends $37 per resident, less than 73% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 85% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Foard County Library offered 4 programs last year, 3.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Foard County Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
925 cards for 1,079 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% 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; Foard County Library serves 1,079 people in and around Crowell, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Crowell’s civic life grade
Crowell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Foard County Library serves 1,079 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Foard County Library system. The library’s own count.
4 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Foard County Library, 110 E California, Crowell.
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 $4.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Crowell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $190K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 925 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Foard County Library serves 1,079 people in and around Crowell, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Crowell.
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 Crowell
Does Crowell have a public library?
Yes. Foard County Library, 110 E California, serves 1,079 people in and around Crowell (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Foard County Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Crowell’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Crowell’s civic life grade?
Crowell isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Crowell.
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.