Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Breckenridge’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Breckenridge Library serves 5,140 people in and around Breckenridge. Last year it lent 4,778 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,039 visits.
The short version on Breckenridge’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
84% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 16%. What your card is worth ↓
Breckenridge Library is used less than most libraries its size
Breckenridge Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $17 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Breckenridge Library offered 10 programs last year, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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; Breckenridge Library serves 5,140 people in and around Breckenridge, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Breckenridge’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Breckenridge is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #97 of 539 in Texas. Breckenridge’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Breckenridge
6.6 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.4%
10.4% of Breckenridge’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 Breckenridge’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Breckenridge Library serves 5,140 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Breckenridge Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,778 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,379 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
10 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Breckenridge Library, 209 N Breckenridge Ave, Breckenridge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Breckenridge Library branch.
New in Breckenridge? 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 Breckenridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $89K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $81K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $89K 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 3,631 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Breckenridge Library serves 5,140 people in and around Breckenridge, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Breckenridge.
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 Breckenridge
Does Breckenridge have a public library?
Yes. Breckenridge Library, 209 N Breckenridge Ave, serves 5,140 people in and around Breckenridge (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Breckenridge 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 Breckenridge’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Breckenridge’s civic life grade?
B Breckenridge is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 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 Breckenridge.
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.