Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Dumas’ library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Killgore Memorial Library serves 21,190 people in and around Dumas. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
The short version on Dumas’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Killgore Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Killgore Memorial Library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, fewer than 93% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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; Killgore Memorial Library serves 21,190 people in and around Dumas, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Dumas’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Dumas is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #17 of 539 in Texas. Dumas is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Dumas
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
26.0%
26.0% of Dumas’ 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 Dumas’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Killgore Memorial Library serves 21,190 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Killgore Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,118 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
Find it
Killgore Memorial Library, 124 S Bliss Ave, Dumas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Killgore Memorial Library branch.
New in Dumas? 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 Dumas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $622K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $330K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $622K 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 2,508 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Killgore Memorial Library serves 21,190 people in and around Dumas, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Dumas.
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 Dumas
Does Dumas have a public library?
Yes. Killgore Memorial Library, 124 S Bliss Ave, serves 21,190 people in and around Dumas (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Killgore Memorial 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 Dumas’ library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Dumas’ civic life grade?
A Dumas is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Dumas.
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.