Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Bee Cave’s library logs 8.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bee Cave Public Library serves Bee Cave’s 8,621 residents. Last year it lent 106K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
What Bee Cave’s library is like
Bee Cave ranks 4th in Texas for library use
Out of 181 Texas towns with a library of their own, Bee Cave comes 4th for visits per resident. It’s also #6 for kids’ borrowing and #9 for borrowing. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 73% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Bee Cave last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 235 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Bee Cave invests in its library
Bee Cave Public Library spends $129 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Bee Cave’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Bee Cave is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #24 of 539 in Texas. Bee Cave is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
39 community nonprofits are registered in Bee Cave
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bee Cave Public Library serves 8,621 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 57 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
106K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
38,453 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Bee Cave last year.
Find it
Bee Cave Public Library, 4000 Galleria Pkwy, Bee Cave.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bee Cave? 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 $1.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bee Cave cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 6,690 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.
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 Bee Cave
Does Bee Cave have a public library?
Yes. Bee Cave Public Library, 4000 Galleria Pkwy, serves Bee Cave’s 8,621 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bee Cave 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 Bee Cave’s library?
It logged 8.4 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bee Cave’s civic life grade?
A Bee Cave is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Bee Cave.
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.