Photo: Barbara Brannon · CC BY 2.0Spearman’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Hansford County Library serves 5,071 people in and around Spearman. Last year it lent 114K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,477 visits.
Spearman’s library, in brief
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 95% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 5%. What people borrow ↓
Hansford County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Hansford County Library records 1.1 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: $21 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hansford County Library offered 22 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. 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; Hansford County Library serves 5,071 people in and around Spearman, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Spearman’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spearman is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #107 of 539 in Texas. Spearman is graded on two of the three inputs. Spearman’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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Spearman
8.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Spearman’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 Spearman’s residents live; 2022.
95% of borrowing is digital
114K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
107,854 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Hansford County Library serves 5,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 57 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hansford County Library system. The library’s own count.
22 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
Hansford County Library, 122 Main St., Spearman.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hansford County Library branch.
New in Spearman? 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 $15.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spearman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $109K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $109K 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 1,446 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hansford County Library serves 5,071 people in and around Spearman, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Spearman.
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 Spearman
Does Spearman have a public library?
Yes. Hansford County Library, 122 Main St., serves 5,071 people in and around Spearman (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hansford 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 Spearman’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 22.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Spearman’s civic life grade?
B Spearman is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #107 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 Spearman.
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.