Photo: Leaflet · CC BY-SA 3.0Morton’s library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Cochran County Love Memorial Library serves 2,509 people in and around Morton. Last year it lent 1,490 books, movies and e-books and drew 62 people to its programs.
What stands out about Cochran County Love Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Morton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Morton is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Morton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Morton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Morton’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($29K–$48K) 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Morton
3.3 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.5%
2.5% of Morton’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 Morton’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cochran County Love Memorial Library serves 2,509 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Cochran County Love Memorial Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cochran County Love Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,490 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
21 programs a year
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
Cochran County Love Memorial Library, 318 S Main St., Morton.
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 Cochran County Love Memorial Library branch.
New in Morton? 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 Morton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $95K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $22K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $95K 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 1,663 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Cochran County Love Memorial Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Cochran County Love Memorial Library serves 2,509 people in and around Morton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Morton.
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 Morton
Does Morton have a public library?
Yes. Cochran County Love Memorial Library, 318 S Main St., serves 2,509 people in and around Morton (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cochran County Love 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 Morton’s library?
It lent 0.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 21 programs that drew 62 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Morton’s civic life grade?
D Morton is ahead of 11% 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 Morton.
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.