Smithville Commercial Historic District · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Smithville’s library runs 74 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Smithville Public Library serves 14,260 people in and around Smithville. Last year it lent 66K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Smithville’s library
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Smithville Public Library ran 1,050 programs last year, about 20 a week. That’s 74 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 1,050 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 299 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; Smithville Public Library serves 14,260 people in and around Smithville, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Smithville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Smithville is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #43 of 539 in Texas. Smithville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Smithville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Smithville
5.7 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.3%
8.3% of Smithville’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 Smithville’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Smithville Public Library serves 14,260 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Smithville Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,776 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Smithville Public Library, 507 Main St., Smithville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Smithville Public Library branch.
New in Smithville? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smithville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $470K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $470K 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 7,185 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Smithville Public Library serves 14,260 people in and around Smithville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Smithville.
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 Smithville
Does Smithville have a public library?
Yes. Smithville Public Library, 507 Main St., serves 14,260 people in and around Smithville (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Smithville Public 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 Smithville’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Smithville’s civic life grade?
A− Smithville is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 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 Smithville.
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.