Dealey Plaza Historic District · Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Dallas’ library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Dallas Public Library serves Dallas’s 1,302,868 residents from 30 locations. Last year it lent 5.7M books, movies and e-books and logged 467K visits.
Dallas’s library, in brief
30 places to borrow in Dallas
Dallas Public Library runs 30 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Dallas Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 97% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 13,662 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 5,086 were for children. 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 Dallas’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dallas is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #416 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #306. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Dallas’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Dallas’ 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$88K) 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 →
4,636 community nonprofits are registered in Dallas
3.5 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 (1,533 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 333 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.1%
4.1% of Dallas’ 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 Dallas’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dallas Public Library serves 1,302,868 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 74 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 1.9M books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
1,825,784 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 98 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 Dallas last year.
30 places to borrow in Dallas
Dallas Public Library, 1515 Young St., Dallas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dallas? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Dallas
And 17 more in Dallas.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dallas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $42M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $88M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42M 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 688,257 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Dallas ranks 3rd of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coppell | Cozby Library and Community Commons fine-free | 11.2 | 67 | B+ |
| Irving | South Irving Library fine-free | 5.2 | 62 | D |
| Dallas | Dallas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 48 | D |
| Carrollton | Carrollton Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 46 | D |
| Cedar Hill | Traphene Hickman Library fine-free | 3.8 | 54 | C |
| Rowlett | Rowlett Public Library | 3.6 | 58 | C− |
| Garland | Nicholson Memorial Library System fine-free | 3.1 | 63 | D− |
| Grand Prairie | Grand Prairie Public Library System | 1.9 | 52 | D |
| Mesquite | Mesquite Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 57 | D− |
| Rockwall | Rockwall County Library | — | 47 | B |
| Heath | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dallas Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Dallas
Does Dallas have a public library?
Yes. Dallas Public Library, 1515 Young St., serves Dallas’ 1,302,868 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dallas 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 Dallas’ library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Dallas’ civic life grade?
D Dallas is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #416 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 Dallas.
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.