Photo: The original uploader was Billy Hathorn at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Goldthwaite’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Jennie Trent Dew Library serves 4,548 people in and around Goldthwaite. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,088 visits.
The short version on Goldthwaite’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 71%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 185 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 73 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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; Jennie Trent Dew Library serves 4,548 people in and around Goldthwaite, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Goldthwaite’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Goldthwaite is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Goldthwaite is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Goldthwaite’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Goldthwaite
15.5 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 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Goldthwaite’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 Goldthwaite’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Jennie Trent Dew Library serves 4,548 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jennie Trent Dew Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,159 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
Jennie Trent Dew Library, 1113 Fisher St., Goldthwaite.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jennie Trent Dew Library branch.
New in Goldthwaite? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Goldthwaite cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $87K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $234K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $87K 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 3,327 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Jennie Trent Dew Library serves 4,548 people in and around Goldthwaite, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Goldthwaite.
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 Goldthwaite
Does Goldthwaite have a public library?
Yes. Jennie Trent Dew Library, 1113 Fisher St., serves 4,548 people in and around Goldthwaite (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jennie Trent Dew 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 Goldthwaite’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Goldthwaite’s civic life grade?
A Goldthwaite is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Goldthwaite.
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.