Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Terrell’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Riter C Hulsey Public Library serves Terrell’s 65,264 residents. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
Terrell’s library, in brief
Riter C Hulsey Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Riter C Hulsey Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Terrell Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2006. Today’s library there has 9,486 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
63% of the 779 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 186 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.
What’s behind Terrell’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Terrell is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #336 of 539 in Texas. Terrell is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Terrell’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) 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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Terrell
3.7 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 (32 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Terrell’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 Terrell’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2006
Riter C Hulsey Public Library, 301 N Rockwall St., Terrell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Terrell? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Terrell Carnegie Library
Terrell Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 10, 2006. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Riter C Hulsey Public Library serves 65,264 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 46 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 62K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
17,850 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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 Terrell last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Terrell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 4,114 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.
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Terrell
Does Terrell have a public library?
Yes. Riter C Hulsey Public Library, 301 N Rockwall St., serves Terrell’s 65,264 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riter C Hulsey 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 Terrell’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Terrell’s civic life grade?
C− Terrell is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #336 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 Terrell.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.