Photo: Josh Berglund from Richardson, United States · CC BY 2.0Quanah’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Thompson Sawyer Public Library serves 3,490 people in and around Quanah. Last year it lent 4,631 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,972 visits.
What Quanah’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 15%. What your card is worth ↓
Thompson Sawyer Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Thompson Sawyer Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $27 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Quanah branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Thompson Sawyer Public Library serves 3,490 people in and around Quanah, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Quanah’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Quanah is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Quanah is graded on two of the three inputs. Quanah’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 Quanah
8.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.3%
4.3% of Quanah’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 Quanah’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Thompson Sawyer Public Library serves 3,490 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Thompson Sawyer Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,631 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
524 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Thompson Sawyer Public Library, 403 W 3rd St., Quanah.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Thompson Sawyer Public Library branch.
New in Quanah? 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 Quanah cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 1,523 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Thompson Sawyer Public Library serves 3,490 people in and around Quanah, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Quanah.
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 Quanah
Does Quanah have a public library?
Yes. Thompson Sawyer Public Library, 403 W 3rd St., serves 3,490 people in and around Quanah (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Thompson Sawyer Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Quanah’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Quanah’s civic life grade?
B− Quanah is ahead of 50% 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 Quanah.
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.