Photo: Charles Henry · CC BY 2.0Pampa’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lovett Memorial Library Pampa serves Pampa’s 20,128 residents. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Pampa’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Lovett Memorial Library Pampa sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Lovett Memorial Library Pampa serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. 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.
What’s behind Pampa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pampa is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #441 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Lovett Memorial Library Pampa spends $23 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$71K) 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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Pampa
2.1 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of Pampa’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 Pampa’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lovett Memorial Library Pampa serves 20,128 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 39K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
14,334 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 Pampa last year.
Find it
Lovett Memorial Library Pampa, 111 N Houston St., Pampa.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pampa? 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 $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pampa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $457K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $883K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $457K 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 3,257 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Pampa
Does Pampa have a public library?
Yes. Lovett Memorial Library Pampa, 111 N Houston St., serves Pampa’s 20,128 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lovett Memorial Library Pampa 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 Pampa’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Pampa’s civic life grade?
D Pampa is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #441 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 Pampa.
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.