Photo: Montewalker1 · CC BY-SA 4.0Howe’s library runs 72 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Howe Community Library serves 9,852 people in and around Howe. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
The short version on Howe’s library
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 91% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 52% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
89% of the 711 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 34 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 94% 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; Howe Community Library serves 9,852 people in and around Howe, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Howe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Howe is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #113 of 539 in Texas. Howe is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Howe’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Howe
3.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Howe’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 Howe’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Howe Community Library serves 9,852 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Howe Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 12 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
Howe Community Library, 315 S Collins Fwy, Howe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Howe Community Library branch.
New in Howe? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Howe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $193K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $331K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $193K 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 3,204 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman | Sherman Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 51 | C− |
| Howe | Howe Community Library fine-free | — | 46 | B |
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. Howe Community Library serves 9,852 people in and around Howe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Howe.
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 Howe
Does Howe have a public library?
Yes. Howe Community Library, 315 S Collins Fwy, serves 9,852 people in and around Howe (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Howe Community Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Howe’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Howe’s civic life grade?
B Howe is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #113 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 Howe.
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.