Photo: Who What Where Nguyen Why a/k/a Anonymous Cow · CC BY-SA 3.0Amarillo’s library lends 5.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Amarillo Public Library serves Amarillo’s 202,408 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 1.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 370K visits.
The short version on Amarillo’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Amarillo Public Library offered 933 programs last year, 4.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Five places to borrow in Amarillo
Amarillo Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Amarillo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Amarillo is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #338 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #226. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Amarillo’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) 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 →
705 community nonprofits are registered in Amarillo
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (244 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of Amarillo’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 Amarillo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Amarillo Public Library serves 202,408 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 411K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
124,653 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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 Amarillo last year.
5 places to borrow in Amarillo
Amarillo Public Library, 413 SE 4th Ave, Amarillo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Amarillo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Amarillo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Amarillo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.5M 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 97,199 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 Amarillo
Does Amarillo have a public library?
Yes. Amarillo Public Library, 413 SE 4th Ave, serves Amarillo’s 202,408 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Amarillo 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 Amarillo’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Amarillo’s civic life grade?
C− Amarillo is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #338 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 Amarillo.
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.