Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 3.0Aledo’s library lends 4.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Aledo Public Library serves Aledo’s 13,454 residents. Last year it lent 82K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
What Aledo’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Aledo Public Library offered 106 programs last year, 7.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 73% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 80% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 73%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Aledo Public Library spends $9 per resident, less than 97% 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 Aledo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Aledo is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #296 of 539 in Texas. Aledo is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Aledo’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Aledo Public Library spends $9 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($122K–$204K) 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Aledo
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Aledo’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 Aledo’s residents live; 2022.
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 Aledo last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Aledo Public Library serves 13,454 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
82K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 27K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
16,441 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Aledo Public Library, 201 Fm 1187 N, Aledo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Aledo? 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 $9.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aledo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $120K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $120K 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 8,475 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 Aledo
Does Aledo have a public library?
Yes. Aledo Public Library, 201 Fm 1187 N, serves Aledo’s 13,454 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aledo 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 Aledo’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 6.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Aledo’s civic life grade?
C− Aledo is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #296 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 Aledo.
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.