Photo: Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lockhart’s library runs 43 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Dr Eugene Clark Library serves Lockhart’s 15,318 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
What stands out about Lockhart’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lockhart’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lockhart is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #190 of 539 in Texas. Lockhart’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$86K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
101 community nonprofits are registered in Lockhart
6.6 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 (19 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Lockhart’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 Lockhart’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Dr Eugene Clark Library serves 15,318 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. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
7,738 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, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lockhart last year.
Find it
Dr Eugene Clark Library, 217 S Main St., Lockhart.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lockhart? The Handbook →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 Lockhart cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $622K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $352K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $622K 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 8,525 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 Lockhart
Does Lockhart have a public library?
Yes. Dr Eugene Clark Library, 217 S Main St., serves Lockhart’s 15,318 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dr Eugene Clark 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 Lockhart’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lockhart’s civic life grade?
C+ Lockhart is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #190 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 Lockhart.
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.