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Collingsworth Public Library

Wellington’s library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size

Collingsworth Public Library serves 2,563 people in and around Wellington. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.

711 15th St., Wellington 79095 · about 43 hours a week
B+Civic lifeAhead of 66% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (806) 447-3183 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
12K
4.6 per resident
Visits a year
21K
8.1 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
46
about 1 a week · 1,527 attended
Cardholders
41%
1,059 cards
Open
43 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Wellington’s library is like

Gifts and endowments pay a real share

30% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. What your card is worth ↓

Visits are the system’s strong suit

Collingsworth Public Library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 4.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓

Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf

Only 4% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 84% 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; Collingsworth Public Library serves 2,563 people in and around Wellington, and its numbers cover all of them.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Wellington’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wellington is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Wellington is graded on two of the three inputs. Wellington’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Wellington’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureA+Community nonprofits13.3 per 1,000 residents · TX towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7C−Volunteering5.7% of adults 25–44 · TX towns 5.7% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 66%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $43K–$71K (6,907)Ahead of 63%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Wellington is small (1,770 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

25 community nonprofits are registered in Wellington

13.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation52.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans73.72 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services21.06 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health31.59 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.53 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other52.66 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

5.7%

5.7% of Wellington’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 Wellington’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Collingsworth Public Library system. The library’s own count.

21K
visits
8.1 per resident
12K
loans, print + digital
4.6 per resident
46
programs & events
1,527 attended
1,059
library cards
41% of people served
Every open hour5items borrowed
Every week29people at a program
Every week397visits
3 staff (full-time equivalent)5 public computers
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 8.1 visits · typical 3Top 10%
Borrowing per resident 4.4 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 56%
Digital borrowing 0.2 e-items · typical 1Lower than 84%
Kids’ borrowing 0.9 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 70%
Program attendance 0.6 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 57%
Programs offered 17.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 74%
Cardholders 41% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 51%
Spending $73 per resident · typical $43Higher than 80%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Collingsworth Public Library serves 2,563 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

12Kloans
Books & media (adults) 76%Kids’ books & media 19%E-books, audio & streaming 4%
From your couch

522 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

46 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Wellington →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–512
Ages 6–1120
Teens0
Adults14
All ages0
Little ones
0.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

2,259
kids’ books & media borrowed
1,527
people at programs
46
programs
The building

Find it

Collingsworth Public Library, 711 15th St., Wellington.

Directions(806) 447-3183
43
hours open a week
8,500
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Collingsworth Public Library branch.

New in Wellington? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.09 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Wellington cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$73 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $187K.

Local taxes 70%Gifts & other 30%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $203K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $187K 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 1,059 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Collingsworth Public Library serves 2,563 people in and around Wellington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wellington.

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 Wellington

Does Wellington have a public library?

Yes. Collingsworth Public Library, 711 15th St., serves 2,563 people in and around Wellington (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Collingsworth Public 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 Wellington’s library?

It logged 8.1 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Wellington’s civic life grade?

B+ Wellington is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Wellington.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.