Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Buda’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Buda Public Library serves Buda’s 21,198 residents. Last year it lent 212K books, movies and e-books and logged 105K visits.
The short version on Buda’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Buda last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
24,000 people came to the library’s 874 programs last year: 1.1 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 91% 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 Buda’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Buda is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns, #332 of 539 in Texas. Buda is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$155K) 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Buda
2.2 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 (14 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.
6.8%
6.8% of Buda’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 Buda’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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 Buda 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.
Buda Public Library serves 21,198 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
212K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.3 times last year, on average.
40,437 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Buda Public Library, 405 E Loop St. Suite 100, Buda.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Buda? 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 $3.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Buda cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $837K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $837K 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 12,579 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Buda borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. 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 Buda
Does Buda have a public library?
Yes. Buda Public Library, 405 E Loop St. Suite 100, serves Buda’s 21,198 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Buda 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 Buda’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Buda’s civic life grade?
C− Buda is ahead of 18% of U.S. towns on civic life, #332 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 Buda.
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.