Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Bastrop’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bastrop Public Library serves Bastrop’s 11,679 residents. Last year it lent 138K books, movies and e-books and logged 82K visits.
What Bastrop’s library is like
Bastrop ranks 5th in Texas for kids’ borrowing
Out of 183 Texas towns with a library of their own, Bastrop comes 5th for children’s items borrowed per child. It’s also #6 for library use and #11 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 34 items per child in Bastrop last year. Kids & programs ↓
Bastrop uses its library more than almost any town its size
Bastrop Public Library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
13,000 people came to the library’s 512 programs last year: 1.1 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Bastrop’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bastrop is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #94 of 539 in Texas. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Bastrop
4.3 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Bastrop’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 Bastrop’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Bastrop last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bastrop Public Library serves 11,679 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 58 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
138K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 48K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
17,716 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bastrop Public Library, 1100 Church St., Bastrop.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bastrop? 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bastrop cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $834K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $834K 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 3,494 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 Bastrop
Does Bastrop have a public library?
Yes. Bastrop Public Library, 1100 Church St., serves Bastrop’s 11,679 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bastrop 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 Bastrop’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bastrop’s civic life grade?
B Bastrop is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 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 Bastrop.
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.