Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Austin’s library logs 3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Austin Public Library serves Austin’s 979,882 residents from 22 locations. Last year it lent 7.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 3M visits.
Austin’s library, in brief
Most of Austin’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Austin’s library lends 7.9 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Cedar Park at 14. Libraries next door ↓
22 places to borrow in Austin
Austin Public Library runs 22 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 Austin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Austin is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #103 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #64. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
4,288 community nonprofits are registered in Austin
4.4 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 (784 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 252 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Austin’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 Austin’s residents live; 2022.
50% of borrowing is digital
7.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 1.1M books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
3,857,204 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Austin Public Library serves 979,882 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 123 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 60 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 Austin last year.
22 places to borrow in Austin
Austin Public Library, 710 W CÉsar ChÁvez St., Austin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Austin? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Austin
And 9 more in Austin.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Austin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $116M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7M 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 337,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Austin ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Park | Cedar Park Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 66 | C+ |
| Wells Branch | Wells Branch Community Library fine-free | 13.0 | 58 | B− |
| Round Rock | Round Rock Public Library System | 9.8 | 68 | B− |
| Austin | Austin Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 61 | B |
| West Lake Hills | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Barton Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Rollingwood | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Brushy Creek | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lost Creek | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| San Leanna | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Manchaca | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Austin
Does Austin have a public library?
Yes. Austin Public Library, 710 W CÉsar ChÁvez St., serves Austin’s 979,882 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Austin Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Austin’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Austin’s civic life grade?
B Austin is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #103 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 Austin.
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.