Photo: pasa47 · CC BY 2.0Longview’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Longview Public Library serves Longview’s 102,993 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 237K books, movies and e-books and logged 122K visits.
What stands out about Longview’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Longview’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Longview is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #324 of 539 in Texas. Longview’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Longview Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$79K) 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 →
362 community nonprofits are registered in Longview
4.4 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 (176 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Longview’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 Longview’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Longview Public Library serves 102,993 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
237K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 152K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
57,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Longview last year.
2 places to borrow in Longview
Longview Public Library, 222 W Cotton St., Longview.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Longview? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Longview
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Longview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 52,802 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longview | Longview Public Library | 2.3 | 54 | C− |
| White Oak | White Oak School Community Library fine-free | — | 15 | C− |
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.
- 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 Longview
Does Longview have a public library?
Yes. Longview Public Library, 222 W Cotton St., serves Longview’s 102,993 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Longview 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 Longview’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Longview’s civic life grade?
C− Longview is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #324 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 Longview.
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.