Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Carnegie Library of Ballinger serves Ballinger’s 5,247 residents
Carnegie Library of Ballinger serves Ballinger’s 5,247 residents.
What stands out about Ballinger’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ballinger’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ballinger is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #154 of 539 in Texas. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Ballinger is graded on two of the three inputs. Ballinger’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Ballinger’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Ballinger
8.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
3.5%
3.5% of Ballinger’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 Ballinger’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1975
Carnegie Library of Ballinger, 204 N 8th St., Ballinger.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ballinger Carnegie Library
Ballinger Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 18, 1975. It is significant for its social history and performing arts at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival Style.
The Ballinger Carnegie Library, at 204 N. 8th St. in Ballinger, Texas, is a Carnegie library which was built in 1909. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It is one of only five Carnegie Libraries in Texas, out of 32 built, to remain in use as a public library. It is built in "a vernacular version" of Classical Revival style. Its most prominent feature is a two-story portico.
More about the building →A year at Carnegie Library of Ballinger
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ballinger resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 5,247 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Carnegie Library of Ballinger didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Ballinger
Does Ballinger have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie Library of Ballinger, 204 N 8th St., serves Ballinger’s 5,247 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Carnegie Library of Ballinger fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ballinger’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Ballinger’s civic life grade?
B− Ballinger is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #154 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 Ballinger.
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.