The Colony’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
The Colony Public Library serves The Colony’s 62,585 residents. Last year it lent 133K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
What stands out about The Colony’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind The Colony’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, The Colony is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #296 of 539 in Texas. The Colony is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; The Colony’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The Colony Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($86K–$143K) 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 →
146 community nonprofits are registered in The Colony
3.2 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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of The Colony’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 The Colony’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
The Colony Public Library serves 62,585 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 58 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
133K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 72K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
36,595 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 The Colony last year.
Find it
The Colony Public Library, 6800 Main St., The Colony.
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 The Colony? 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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average The Colony cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 25,241 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
The Colony ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frisco | Frisco Public Library fine-free | 15.2 | 71 | B+ |
| Plano | Plano Public Library System fine-free | 12.8 | 66 | B |
| Carrollton | Carrollton Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 46 | D |
| Lewisville | Lewisville Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 58 | D− |
| The Colony | The Colony Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 47 | C− |
| Little Elm | Little Elm Public Library fine-free | 0.9 | 47 | B− |
| Hebron | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 The Colony
Does The Colony have a public library?
Yes. The Colony Public Library, 6800 Main St., serves The Colony’s 62,585 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is The Colony 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 The Colony’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is The Colony’s civic life grade?
C− The Colony is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #296 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 The Colony.
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.