Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Converse’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Converse Public Library serves Converse’s 30,321 residents. Last year it lent 40K books, movies and e-books and logged 45K visits.
Converse’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Converse Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Converse Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Two of the three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Converse Public Library offered 175 programs last year, 5.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Converse Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 77% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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 Converse’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Converse is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns, #367 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Converse’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Converse Public Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$118K) 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Converse
3.6 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 (36 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Converse’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 Converse’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Converse Public Library serves 30,321 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
4,210 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Converse last year.
Find it
Converse Public Library, 601 S Seguin Rd, Converse.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Converse? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Converse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $398K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $597K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $398K 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 6,076 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Converse ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio | San Antonio Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 46 | D |
| Universal City | Universal City Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 40 | C− |
| Converse | Converse Public Library | 1.3 | 42 | D |
| Schertz | Schertz Public Library | — | 59 | C |
| Randolph AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Live Oak | None of its own | — | — | D− |
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 Converse
Does Converse have a public library?
Yes. Converse Public Library, 601 S Seguin Rd, serves Converse’s 30,321 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Converse Public 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 Converse’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Converse’s civic life grade?
D Converse is ahead of 14% of U.S. towns on civic life, #367 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 Converse.
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.