Old Reagan County Courthouse · Photo: BlueSteel75 at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Big Lake’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Reagan County Library serves 3,141 people in and around Big Lake. Last year it lent 6,493 books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Big Lake’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
98% of the 56 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 21 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 60% of loans. Print still makes up 40%. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Reagan County Library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, fewer than 92% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Reagan County Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice 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; Reagan County Library serves 3,141 people in and around Big Lake, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Big Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Big Lake is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #180 of 539 in Texas. Big Lake’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$89K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Big Lake
5.0 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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.8%
3.8% of Big Lake’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 Big Lake’s residents live; 2022.
60% of borrowing is digital
6,493 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,906 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Reagan County Library serves 3,141 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Reagan County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Reagan County Library, 300 Courthouse Sq, Big Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Reagan County Library branch.
New in Big Lake? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Big Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $303K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $110K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $303K 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 1,110 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Reagan County Library serves 3,141 people in and around Big Lake, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Big Lake.
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 Big Lake
Does Big Lake have a public library?
Yes. Reagan County Library, 300 Courthouse Sq, serves 3,141 people in and around Big Lake (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Reagan County 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 Big Lake’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Big Lake’s civic life grade?
C+ Big Lake is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #180 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 Big Lake.
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.