Highlands’ library is a branch of Harris County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 57% of systems its size
Highlands’s library is the Stratford Branch Library, a branch of Harris County Public Library, which serves 2,281,173 people and lent 18M items last year.
The short version on Highlands’s library
More library cards than residents
2,308,724 cards for 2,281,173 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
The Harris County Public Library system records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.6 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Highlands’s library is a branch of Harris County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (2,281,173 people), not just the Highlands branch.
What’s behind Highlands’ civic life grade
Highlands 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 Harris County Public 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 Highlands
Highlands is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.5%
4.5% of Highlands’ 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 Highlands’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Harris County Public Library serves 2,281,173 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 246 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Harris County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
54% of borrowing is digital
18M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,517,766 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 120 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Stratford Branch Library, 509 Stratford St., Highlands.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Harris County Public Library branch.
New in Highlands? 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 $7.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Highlands cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $38M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $268M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38M budget.
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 2,308,724 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baytown | Sterling Municipal Library | 2.8 | 61 | D |
| Highlands | Stratford Branch Library fine-free | — | 43 | — unincorporated |
| Channelview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Stratford Branch Library is one branch of Harris County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 2,281,173 people it serves.
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 Highlands
Does Highlands have a public library?
Yes: Stratford Branch Library, 509 Stratford St., is a branch of Harris County Public Library, which serves 2,281,173 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harris County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Highlands’ library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Highlands’ civic life grade?
Highlands 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 Harris County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Highlands.
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.