Photo: Sgt. 1st Class E. L. Craig · Public domainBeaumont’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Beaumont Public Library System serves Beaumont’s 112,193 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 238K books, movies and e-books and logged 256K visits.
Beaumont’s library, in brief
Programs draw a crowd
102,000 people came to the library’s 1,150 programs last year: 0.9 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Beaumont has a card
96,584 cards for 112,193 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Beaumont Public Library System holds 353,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
Five places to borrow in Beaumont
Beaumont Public Library System 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 Beaumont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Beaumont is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #158 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #98. 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 →
462 community nonprofits are registered in Beaumont
4.1 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 (210 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 22 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.3%
8.3% of Beaumont’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 Beaumont’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Beaumont last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Beaumont Public Library System serves 112,193 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
238K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 353K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
34,101 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
5 places to borrow in Beaumont
Beaumont Public Library System, 801 Pearl St., Beaumont.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Beaumont? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Beaumont
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beaumont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 96,584 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaumont | Beaumont Public Library System | 2.1 | 45 | B− |
| Rose Hill Acres | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Beaumont
Does Beaumont have a public library?
Yes. Beaumont Public Library System, 801 Pearl St., serves Beaumont’s 112,193 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaumont Public Library System 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 Beaumont’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Beaumont’s civic life grade?
B− Beaumont is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #158 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 Beaumont.
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.