Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Groveton’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ethel R Reese Public Library serves Groveton’s 934 residents. Last year it logged 368 visits.
What Groveton’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Ethel R Reese Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60.
A small-town library
Ethel R Reese Public Library serves 934 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 23 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ethel R Reese Public Library spends $18 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Groveton’s civic life grade
Groveton 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Ethel R Reese Public Library serves 934 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Ethel R Reese Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 10 items borrowed against 368 visits, so we leave the count out.
Find it
Ethel R Reese Public Library, 125 W First St., Groveton.
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 Groveton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $16K.
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 276 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Groveton
Does Groveton have a public library?
Yes. Ethel R Reese Public Library, 125 W First St., serves Groveton’s 934 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ethel R Reese Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Groveton’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Groveton’s civic life grade?
Groveton 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 Groveton.
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.