Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Hearne’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Smith-Welch Memorial Library serves Hearne’s 12,503 residents. Last year it lent 3,682 books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Hearne’s library
Smith-Welch Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Smith-Welch Memorial Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people Smith-Welch Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Smith-Welch Memorial Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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.
What’s behind Hearne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hearne is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #204 of 539 in Texas. Hearne is graded on two of the three inputs. Hearne’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Hearne
4.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Hearne’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 Hearne’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Smith-Welch Memorial Library serves 12,503 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,682 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
964 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
144 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 Hearne last year.
Find it
Smith-Welch Memorial Library, 105 W 5th St., Hearne.
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 Hearne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $63K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 1,201 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Hearne
Does Hearne have a public library?
Yes. Smith-Welch Memorial Library, 105 W 5th St., serves Hearne’s 12,503 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Smith-Welch Memorial 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 Hearne’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hearne’s civic life grade?
C+ Hearne is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #204 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 Hearne.
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.