Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Gladewater’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Lee-Bardwell Public Library serves Gladewater’s 9,677 residents. Last year it lent 8,319 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,840 visits.
What Gladewater’s library is like
Lee-Bardwell Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lee-Bardwell Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lee-Bardwell Public Library offered 27 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Lee-Bardwell Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Lee-Bardwell Public Library holds 41,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Gladewater’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Gladewater is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns, #218 of 539 in Texas. Gladewater is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Gladewater
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Gladewater’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 Gladewater’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.
Lee-Bardwell Public Library serves 9,677 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,319 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
27 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Gladewater last year.
Find it
Lee-Bardwell Public Library, 312 W Pacific Ave, Gladewater.
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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gladewater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $121K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $156K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $121K 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 6,479 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladewater | Lee-Bardwell Public Library | 0.9 | 52 | C |
| Clarksville City | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Warren City | 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 Gladewater
Does Gladewater have a public library?
Yes. Lee-Bardwell Public Library, 312 W Pacific Ave, serves Gladewater’s 9,677 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lee-Bardwell Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gladewater’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gladewater’s civic life grade?
C Gladewater is ahead of 33% of U.S. towns on civic life, #218 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 Gladewater.
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.