Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Rotan’s library logs 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Rotan Public Library serves 3,612 people in and around Rotan. Last year it lent 726 print books and media and logged 468 visits.
What Rotan’s library is like
Rotan Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Rotan Public Library records 0.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $4 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Open only about 19 hours a week
The Rotan branch keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 10% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Rotan Public Library spends $4 per resident, less than 99% 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; Rotan Public Library serves 3,612 people in and around Rotan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rotan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rotan is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns. Rotan is graded on two of the three inputs. Rotan’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Rotan Public Library spends $4 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($40K–$67K) 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 Rotan
4.2 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.7%
3.7% of Rotan’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 Rotan’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.
Rotan Public Library serves 3,612 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Rotan Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rotan Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
726 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Rotan Public Library, 112 W Sammy Baugh Ave, Rotan.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rotan Public Library branch.
New in Rotan? 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 Rotan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $16K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16K 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 378 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
- System-wide. Rotan Public Library serves 3,612 people in and around Rotan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rotan.
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 Rotan
Does Rotan have a public library?
Yes. Rotan Public Library, 112 W Sammy Baugh Ave, serves 3,612 people in and around Rotan (the survey’s count) and is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rotan Public 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 Rotan’s library?
It logged 0.1 visits and lent 0.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Rotan’s civic life grade?
C− Rotan is ahead of 22% 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 Rotan.
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.