Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Perryton’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Perry Memorial Library serves 9,704 people in and around Perryton. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,198 visits.
Perryton’s library, in brief
Perry Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Perry Memorial Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Perry Memorial Library offered 57 programs last year, 5.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 57 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 24 were for children. 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; Perry Memorial Library serves 9,704 people in and around Perryton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Perryton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Perryton is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns, #346 of 539 in Texas. Perryton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$87K) 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 →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Perryton
4.8 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 (16 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.
4.4%
4.4% of Perryton’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 Perryton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Perry Memorial Library serves 9,704 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Perry Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,443 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
57 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
Perry Memorial Library, 22 SE 5th Ave, Perryton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Perry Memorial Library branch.
New in Perryton? 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 Perryton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $330K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $268K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $330K 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 3,280 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Perry Memorial Library serves 9,704 people in and around Perryton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Perryton.
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 Perryton
Does Perryton have a public library?
Yes. Perry Memorial Library, 22 SE 5th Ave, serves 9,704 people in and around Perryton (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Perry Memorial 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 Perryton’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Perryton’s civic life grade?
C− Perryton is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns on civic life, #346 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 Perryton.
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.