Photo: John Cummings · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Davis’ library lends 8.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Jeff Davis County Library serves 1,856 people in and around Fort Davis. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Fort Davis’s library
Programs lean toward adults
75% of the 159 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 37 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 72% 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; Jeff Davis County Library serves 1,856 people in and around Fort Davis, 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 Fort Davis’ civic life grade
Fort Davis 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
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
498 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jeff Davis County Library serves 1,856 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jeff Davis County Library system. The library’s own count.
159 programs a year
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
Jeff Davis County Library, 100 Memorial Square, Fort Davis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Jeff Davis County Library branch.
New in Fort Davis? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Davis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $144K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $277K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $144K 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 1,148 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Jeff Davis County Library serves 1,856 people in and around Fort Davis, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fort Davis.
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 Fort Davis
Does Fort Davis have a public library?
Yes. Jeff Davis County Library, 100 Memorial Square, serves 1,856 people in and around Fort Davis (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jeff Davis County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fort Davis’ library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Fort Davis’ civic life grade?
Fort Davis 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 Fort Davis.
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.