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Mason County CourthousePhoto: GeoffreyLong · CC BY-SA 3.0
Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library

Mason’s library logs 6.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library serves 3,931 people in and around Mason. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.

410 Post Hill Rd, Mason 76856 · about 37 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 50% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (325) 347-5446 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
27K
6.8 per resident
Visits a year
27K
6.8 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
75
about 1 a week · 1,425 attended
Cardholders
89%
3,491 cards
Open
37 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

The short version on Mason’s library

49% of borrowing happens on a screen

E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 51%. What people borrow ↓

Gifts and endowments pay a real share

27% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 73%. What your card is worth ↓

Nearly everyone the system serves has a card

3,491 cards for 3,931 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓

Most programs are for young children

67% of the 75 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 44 for ages 0–5. 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; Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library serves 3,931 people in and around Mason, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Mason’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mason is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Mason is graded on two of the three inputs. Mason’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Mason’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA+Community nonprofits26.5 per 1,000 residents · TX towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7D−Volunteering2.7% of adults 25–44 · TX towns 5.7% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 50%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $57K–$94K (9,255)Ahead of 48%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Mason is small (2,171 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

53 community nonprofits are registered in Mason

26.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture73.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation105.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans63.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services84.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education84.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health42.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals31.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other73.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

2.7%

2.7% of Mason’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 Mason’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · What people borrow

49% of borrowing is digital

27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

27Kloans
Books & media (adults) 42%Kids’ books & media 8%E-books, audio & streaming 49%
From your couch

13,259 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 6.8 visits · typical 3Higher than 85%
Borrowing per resident 3.5 print items · typical 3.8Lower than 55%
Digital borrowing 3.4 e-items · typical 1Top 10%
Kids’ borrowing 0.6 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 81%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.5Lower than 62%
Programs offered 19.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 72%
Cardholders 89% of residents · typical 42%Higher than 87%
Spending $46 per resident · typical $43Higher than 55%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library serves 3,931 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.

27K
visits
6.8 per resident
27K
loans, print + digital
6.8 per resident
75
programs & events
1,425 attended
3,491
library cards
89% of people served
Every open hour14items borrowed
Every week27people at a program
Every week512visits
2 staff (full-time equivalent)6 public computers
Kids & programs

75 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Mason →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–544
Ages 6–116
Teens2
Adults17
All ages6
Little ones
0.8

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

2,198
kids’ books & media borrowed
1,425
people at programs
75
programs
The building

Find it

Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library, 410 Post Hill Rd, Mason.

Directions(325) 347-5446
37
hours open a week
5,000
square feet
With a card

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 Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library branch.

New in Mason? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.40 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mason cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$46 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $181K.

Local taxes 73%Gifts & other 27%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $433K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $181K 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 3,491 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library serves 3,931 people in and around Mason, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mason.

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 Mason

Does Mason have a public library?

Yes. Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial Library, 410 Post Hill Rd, serves 3,931 people in and around Mason (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Mason County M Beven Eckert Memorial 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 Mason’s library?

It logged 6.8 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Mason’s civic life grade?

B− Mason is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Mason.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.