Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Menard’s library lends 8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Menard Public Library serves 1,958 people in and around Menard. Last year it lent 16K print books and media and logged 4,500 visits.
Menard’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
69% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 31%. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 80% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 69%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
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; Menard Public Library serves 1,958 people in and around Menard, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Menard’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Menard is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns. Menard is graded on two of the three inputs. Menard’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Menard
17.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.3%
7.3% of Menard’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 Menard’s residents live; 2022.
Books and media off the shelf
16K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Menard Public Library serves 1,958 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Menard Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 kids’ programs 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
Menard Public Library, 105 E Mission St., Menard.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Menard Public Library branch.
New in Menard? 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 $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Menard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $110K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $272K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $110K 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 1,521 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Menard Public Library serves 1,958 people in and around Menard, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Menard.
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 Menard
Does Menard have a public library?
Yes. Menard Public Library, 105 E Mission St., serves 1,958 people in and around Menard (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Menard 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 Menard’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 8.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Menard’s civic life grade?
A− Menard is ahead of 83% 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 Menard.
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.