Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Corpus Christi’s library logs 1.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Corpus Christi Public Libraries serves Corpus Christi’s 316,595 residents from 6 locations. Last year it lent 836K books, movies and e-books and logged 532K visits.
What Corpus Christi’s library is like
Six places to borrow in Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi Public Libraries runs six locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 57% of similar-size libraries. 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 Corpus Christi’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Corpus Christi is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #444 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #331. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Corpus Christi Public Libraries spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$84K) 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 →
666 community nonprofits are registered in Corpus Christi
2.1 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 (246 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Corpus Christi’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 Corpus Christi’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Corpus Christi Public Libraries serves 316,595 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
836K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 377K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
100,824 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 33 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 Corpus Christi last year.
7 places to borrow in Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi Public Libraries, 805 Comanche St., Corpus Christi.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Corpus Christi? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Corpus Christi
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Corpus Christi cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.4M 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 115,632 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Corpus Christi ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Aransas | William R Bill Ellis Memorial Library | 5.2 | 38 | B |
| Portland | Bell/Whittington Public Library | 2.9 | 54 | D |
| Corpus Christi | Corpus Christi Public Libraries | 2.6 | 43 | D |
| Aransas Pass | Ed & Hazel Richmond Public Library | 0.9 | 47 | B− |
| Ingleside | Ingleside Public Library | 0.8 | 53 | D |
| Ingleside on the Bay | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Corpus Christi
Does Corpus Christi have a public library?
Yes. Corpus Christi Public Libraries, 805 Comanche St., serves Corpus Christi’s 316,595 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Corpus Christi Public Libraries 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 Corpus Christi’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Corpus Christi’s civic life grade?
D Corpus Christi is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #444 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 Corpus Christi.
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.