Photo: HeatherMarieKosur · CC BY-SA 4.0El Paso’s library lends 8.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
El Paso District Library serves 4,746 people in and around El Paso. Last year it lent 40K print books and media and logged 29K visits.
What El Paso’s library is like
The branch is a National Register landmark
El Paso Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1994. Today’s library there has 13,642 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 180 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 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; El Paso District Library serves 4,746 people in and around El Paso, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind El Paso’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, El Paso is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #241 of 754 in Illinois. El Paso 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in El Paso
3.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.7%
8.7% of El Paso’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 El Paso’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
El Paso District Library serves 4,746 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole El Paso District Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
40K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for El Paso’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
A National Register landmark since 1994
El Paso District Library, 149 West First Street, El Paso.
No late fees. Good at every El Paso District Library branch.
New in El Paso? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
El Paso Public Library
El Paso Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 16, 1994. It is significant for its education, social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque. It was listed as part of Illinois Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The El Paso Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 149 West First Street in El Paso, Illinois, United States. The library building was built in 1906–07 to house the city's library, which originated in 1873. Architect Paul O. Moratz designed the building in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The library was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.40 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: $43. Operating budget $313K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $749K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $313K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 1,121 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. El Paso District Library serves 4,746 people in and around El Paso, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just El Paso.
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 District Library, 149 West First Street, serves 4,746 people in and around El Paso (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is El Paso District Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is El Paso’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 8.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is El Paso’s civic life grade?
B El Paso is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #241 of 754 in Illinois. 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 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.