Whitehouse’s library logs 1.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Whitehouse Community Library serves Whitehouse’s 9,571 residents. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Whitehouse’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 68% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Whitehouse Community Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 163 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Whitehouse’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whitehouse is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #243 of 539 in Texas. Whitehouse’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($75K–$124K) 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Whitehouse
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Whitehouse’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 Whitehouse’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Whitehouse Community Library serves 9,571 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
8,012 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Whitehouse last year.
Find it
Whitehouse Community Library, 107 Bascom Rd, Whitehouse.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whitehouse? 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 $9.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whitehouse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $66K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $628K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $66K 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 4,191 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Whitehouse
Does Whitehouse have a public library?
Yes. Whitehouse Community Library, 107 Bascom Rd, serves Whitehouse’s 9,571 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whitehouse Community 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 Whitehouse’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Whitehouse’s civic life grade?
C Whitehouse is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #243 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 Whitehouse.
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.