Photo: Philcomanforterie · CC BY-SA 4.0The Woodlands’ library is a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, which lends more per resident than 54% of systems its size
The Woodlands’s library is the George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library, a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, which serves 705,126 people and lent 2.9M items last year.
The short version on The Woodlands’s library
Few programs for a library this size
The Montgomery County Memorial Library System offered 3,025 programs last year, 4.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
The Montgomery County Memorial Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; The Woodlands’s library is a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, so they cover the whole system (705,126 people), not just the The Woodlands branch.
What’s behind The Woodlands’ civic life grade
The Woodlands isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in The Woodlands
The Woodlands is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.0%
7.0% of The Woodlands’ 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 Woodlands’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Montgomery County Memorial Library System serves 705,126 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 133 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Montgomery County Memorial Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
512,543 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 26 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.
2 places to borrow in The Woodlands
George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library, 8125 Ashlane Way, The Woodlands.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Montgomery County Memorial Library System branch.
New in The Woodlands? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Montgomery County Memorial Library System branches in The Woodlands
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average The Woodlands cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 390,018 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Houston Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 44 | D |
| The Woodlands | George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library | — | 59 | — unincorporated |
| Conroe | Montgomery County Memorial Library System | — | 59 | C− |
| Shenandoah | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Oak Ridge North | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- System-wide. George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library is one branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 705,126 people it serves.
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 Woodlands
Does The Woodlands have a public library?
Yes: George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library, 8125 Ashlane Way, is a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, which serves 705,126 people. The branch is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Montgomery County Memorial Library System 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 The Woodlands’ library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is The Woodlands’ civic life grade?
The Woodlands isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Montgomery County Memorial Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in The Woodlands.
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.