Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Venus’ library lends 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library serves 12,980 people in and around Venus. Last year it lent 3,974 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,060 visits.
What Venus’s library is like
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $14 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 97% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Joe A Hall High School and Community Library serves 12,980 people in and around Venus, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Venus’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Venus is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #455 of 539 in Texas. Venus is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Venus’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($80K–$133K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Venus
1.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.6%
4.6% of Venus’ 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 Venus’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library serves 12,980 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Joe A Hall High School and Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3,974 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,338 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Joe A Hall High School and Community Library, 12 Bulldog Dr, Venus.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Joe A Hall High School and Community Library branch.
New in Venus? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Venus cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $82K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 871 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvarado | Alvarado Public Library | 2.1 | 38 | D |
| Venus | Joe A Hall High School and Community Library fine-free | — | 28 | D− |
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. Joe A Hall High School and Community Library serves 12,980 people in and around Venus, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Venus.
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 Venus
Does Venus have a public library?
Yes. Joe A Hall High School and Community Library, 12 Bulldog Dr, serves 12,980 people in and around Venus (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Joe A Hall High School and Community 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 Venus’ library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Venus’ civic life grade?
D− Venus is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #455 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 Venus.
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.