Wolfe City’s library lends 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Wolfe City Public Library serves Wolfe City’s 3,423 residents. Last year it lent 1,452 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,809 visits.
What Wolfe City’s library is like
Wolfe City Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Wolfe City Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
48% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 51%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
88% of the 64 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Wolfe City has a card
3,403 cards for 3,423 people, or 99%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Wolfe City Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% 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.
What’s behind Wolfe City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wolfe City is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Wolfe City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Wolfe City
5.0 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Wolfe City’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 Wolfe City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Wolfe City Public Library serves 3,423 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Wolfe City Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,452 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Wolfe City last year.
Find it
Wolfe City Public Library, 204 E Williams St., Wolfe City.
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 Wolfe City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $36K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $36K 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 3,403 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 Wolfe City
Does Wolfe City have a public library?
Yes. Wolfe City Public Library, 204 E Williams St., serves Wolfe City’s 3,423 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wolfe City Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wolfe City’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Wolfe City’s civic life grade?
A Wolfe City is ahead of 90% 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 Wolfe City.
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.