Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Vernon’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Carnegie City-County Library serves 12,522 people in and around Vernon. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Vernon’s library
Carnegie City-County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Carnegie City-County Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Carnegie City-County Library offered 113 programs last year, 9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Carnegie City-County Library spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 5% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Carnegie City-County Library serves 12,522 people in and around Vernon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Vernon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Vernon is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #148 of 539 in Texas. Vernon is graded on two of the three inputs. Vernon’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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Vernon
5.9 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Vernon’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 Vernon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Carnegie City-County Library serves 12,522 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carnegie City-County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
927 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
Carnegie City-County Library, 2810 Wilbarger St., Vernon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carnegie City-County Library branch.
New in Vernon? 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 $2.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Vernon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $162K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $335K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $162K 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 8,580 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Carnegie City-County Library serves 12,522 people in and around Vernon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Vernon.
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 Vernon
Does Vernon have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie City-County Library, 2810 Wilbarger St., serves 12,522 people in and around Vernon (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie City-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 Vernon’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Vernon’s civic life grade?
B− Vernon is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #148 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 Vernon.
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.