Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0El Paso’s library is a branch of White County Regional Library System, which lends less per resident than 57% of systems its size
El Paso’s library is the El Paso Community Library, a branch of White County Regional Library System, which serves 79,091 people and lent 410K items last year.
What stands out about El Paso Community Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind El Paso’s civic life grade
El Paso isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
White County Regional Library System serves 79,091 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at White County Regional Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole White County Regional Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
410K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
160,077 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 17 kids’ programs 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
El Paso Community Library, 1607 Ridge Road, El Paso.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every White County Regional Library System branch.
New in El Paso? 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 $3.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average El Paso cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 32,528 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. El Paso Community Library is one branch of White County Regional Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 79,091 people it serves.
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 El Paso
Does El Paso have a public library?
Yes: El Paso Community Library, 1607 Ridge Road, is a branch of White County Regional Library System, which serves 79,091 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White County Regional Library System 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 El Paso’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is El Paso’s civic life grade?
El Paso isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in El Paso.
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.