Photo: Liveon001 at English Wikipedia · CC BY 4.0Henrietta’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Edwards Public Library serves 10,738 people in and around Henrietta. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,517 visits.
The short version on Henrietta’s library
Edwards Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Edwards Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 117 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 76% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 96% 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; Edwards Public Library serves 10,738 people in and around Henrietta, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Henrietta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Henrietta is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #20 of 539 in Texas. Henrietta is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Henrietta’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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Henrietta
7.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.9%
8.9% of Henrietta’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 Henrietta’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.
Edwards Public Library serves 10,738 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Edwards Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
525 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs 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
Edwards Public Library, 210 W Gilbert St., Henrietta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Edwards Public Library branch.
New in Henrietta? 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 $1.11 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Henrietta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $181K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $201K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $181K 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 2,776 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Edwards Public Library serves 10,738 people in and around Henrietta, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Henrietta.
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 Henrietta
Does Henrietta have a public library?
Yes. Edwards Public Library, 210 W Gilbert St., serves 10,738 people in and around Henrietta (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Edwards Public 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 Henrietta’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Henrietta’s civic life grade?
A Henrietta is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Henrietta.
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.