Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Jacksboro’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library serves 8,875 people in and around Jacksboro. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 3,920 visits.
Jacksboro’s library, in brief
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
59% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 41%. What your card is worth ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 69% of loans. Print still makes up 31%. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library offered 49 programs last year, 5.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library serves 8,875 people in and around Jacksboro, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jacksboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jacksboro is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 539 in Texas. Jacksboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Jacksboro near the top nationally; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Jacksboro
9.0 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
17.0%
17.0% of Jacksboro’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 Jacksboro’s residents live; 2022.
69% of borrowing is digital
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,134 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library serves 8,875 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
49 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
Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library, 626 W College St., Jacksboro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library branch.
New in Jacksboro? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jacksboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $245K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 3,927 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library serves 8,875 people in and around Jacksboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jacksboro.
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 Jacksboro
Does Jacksboro have a public library?
Yes. Gladys Johnson Ritchie Public Library, 626 W College St., serves 8,875 people in and around Jacksboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gladys Johnson Ritchie 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 Jacksboro’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Jacksboro’s civic life grade?
A+ Jacksboro is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Jacksboro.
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.