Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Rhome’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Rhome Community Library serves Rhome’s 7,122 residents. Last year it lent 8,320 print books and media and logged 4,221 visits.
The short version on Rhome’s library
Rhome Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rhome Community Library records 0.6 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: $8 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 75% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 71% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 12% of the people Rhome Community Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rhome Community Library spends $8 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Rhome’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rhome is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns. Rhome is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Rhome Community Library spends $8 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$126K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Rhome
2.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Rhome’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 Rhome’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rhome Community Library serves 7,122 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,320 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
80 programs a year
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 Rhome last year.
Find it
Rhome Community Library, 265 W Bc Rhome Ave, Rhome.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Rhome? 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 $2.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rhome cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $119K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 870 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhome | Rhome Community Library | 1.2 | 25 | C− |
| Aurora | None of its own | — | — | C− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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.
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 Rhome
Does Rhome have a public library?
Yes. Rhome Community Library, 265 W Bc Rhome Ave, serves Rhome’s 7,122 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rhome Community 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 Rhome’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rhome’s civic life grade?
C− Rhome is ahead of 20% 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 Rhome.
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.