Photo: JherreraCODR · CC BY-SA 4.0Del Rio’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Val Verde County Library serves 47,720 people in and around Del Rio. Last year it lent 58K books, movies and e-books and logged 48K visits.
Del Rio’s library, in brief
Val Verde County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Val Verde County Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $16 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Val Verde County Library offered 222 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Val Verde County Library serves 47,720 people in and around Del Rio, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Del Rio’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Del Rio is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #428 of 539 in Texas. Del Rio is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Del Rio’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Val Verde County Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
74 community nonprofits are registered in Del Rio
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (19 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.
5.1%
5.1% of Del Rio’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 Del Rio’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Val Verde County Library serves 47,720 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Val Verde County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
58K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,771 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Val Verde County Library, 300 Spring St., Del Rio.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Val Verde County Library branch.
New in Del Rio? 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 $1.12 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Del Rio cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $778K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $872K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $778K 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 29,135 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Del Rio | Val Verde County Library | — | 52 | D |
| Laughlin AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Val Verde Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cienegas Terrace | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Val Verde County Library serves 47,720 people in and around Del Rio, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Del Rio.
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 Del Rio
Does Del Rio have a public library?
Yes. Val Verde County Library, 300 Spring St., serves 47,720 people in and around Del Rio (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Val Verde County 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 Del Rio’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Del Rio’s civic life grade?
D Del Rio is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #428 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 Del Rio.
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.