Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Dublin’s library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Dublin Public Library serves Dublin’s 3,422 residents. Last year it lent 24K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What stands out about Dublin’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Dublin’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dublin is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #165 of 539 in Texas. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Dublin
4.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.8%
5.8% of Dublin’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 Dublin’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Dublin Public Library serves 3,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
24K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
2,131 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
136 programs a year
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 Dublin last year.
Find it
Dublin Public Library, 206 W Blackjack St., Dublin.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Dublin? 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 $2.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Dublin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $149K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $366K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $149K 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 6,096 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Dublin
Does Dublin have a public library?
Yes. Dublin Public Library, 206 W Blackjack St., serves Dublin’s 3,422 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dublin 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 Dublin’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Dublin’s civic life grade?
B− Dublin is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #165 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 Dublin.
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.