Photo: TigerPaw2154 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHarper’s library logs 7.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Harper Library serves 773 people in and around Harper. Last year it lent 5,064 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,767 visits.
The short version on Harper’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
91% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 9%. What your card is worth ↓
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Harper Library is above the middle on six of the seven per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
687 cards for 773 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 107 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 38 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; Harper Library serves 773 people in and around Harper, 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 Harper’s civic life grade
Harper isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Harper Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Harper
Harper is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
16.2%
16.2% of Harper’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 Harper’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Harper Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Harper Library serves 773 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,064 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
934 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
107 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
Harper Library, 23247 Us Hwy 290 W, Harper.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Harper Library branch.
New in Harper? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harper cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $80K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $94K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $80K 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 687 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Harper Library serves 773 people in and around Harper, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Harper.
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 Harper
Does Harper have a public library?
Yes. Harper Library, 23247 Us Hwy 290 W, serves 773 people in and around Harper (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harper 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 Harper’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Harper’s civic life grade?
Harper isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Harper Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Harper.
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.