Traweek House · Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Matador’s library runs 103 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Motley County Library serves 1,020 people in and around Matador. Last year it lent 3,831 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,000 visits.
What’s behind Matador’s civic life grade
Matador isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Motley County Library serves 1,020 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Motley County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,831 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
835 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Motley County Library, 1105 Main St., Matador.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Motley County Library branch.
New in Matador? 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 Matador cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $73K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $69K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $73K 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 678 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Motley County Library serves 1,020 people in and around Matador, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Matador.
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 Matador
Does Matador have a public library?
Yes. Motley County Library, 1105 Main St., serves 1,020 people in and around Matador (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Motley County 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 Matador’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Matador’s civic life grade?
Matador isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Matador.
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.