Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Shallowater’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Shallowater School County Library serves 6,481 people in and around Shallowater. Last year it logged 2,132 visits.
What Shallowater’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Shallowater School County Library offered 9 programs last year, 1.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Shallowater branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Shallowater School County 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; Shallowater School County Library serves 6,481 people in and around Shallowater, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Shallowater’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Shallowater is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #75 of 539 in Texas. Shallowater is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Shallowater’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Shallowater
2.6 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.
17.3%
17.3% of Shallowater’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 Shallowater’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Shallowater School County Library serves 6,481 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Shallowater School County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shallowater School County Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 1,036 items borrowed against 2,132 visits, so we leave the count out.
9 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
Shallowater School County Library, 1202 12th St., Shallowater.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shallowater School County Library branch.
New in Shallowater? 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 Shallowater cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $53K.
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 1,769 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Shallowater School County Library serves 6,481 people in and around Shallowater, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Shallowater.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Shallowater
Does Shallowater have a public library?
Yes. Shallowater School County Library, 1202 12th St., serves 6,481 people in and around Shallowater (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shallowater School County 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 Shallowater’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Shallowater’s civic life grade?
B+ Shallowater is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Shallowater.
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.