Photo: Theunderratedtaco · CC BY 4.0Edinburg’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library serves Edinburg’s 158,163 residents. Last year it lent 162K books, movies and e-books and logged 152K visits.
Edinburg’s library, in brief
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $22 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Edinburg has a card
155,281 cards for 158,163 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 72% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 86% 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 Edinburg’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Edinburg has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #376. Edinburg is graded on two of the three inputs. Edinburg’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) 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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Edinburg
1.4 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 (54 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.6%
2.6% of Edinburg’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 Edinburg’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library serves 158,163 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
162K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 121K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
20,873 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Edinburg last year.
Find it
Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library, 1906 S Closner Blvd, Edinburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Edinburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Edinburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 155,281 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen | Mcallen Public Library | 2.1 | 72 | D− |
| Edinburg | Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library | 1.0 | 62 | D− |
| Murillo | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| César Chávez | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Doolittle | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lopezville | 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.
- 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 Edinburg
Does Edinburg have a public library?
Yes. Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library, 1906 S Closner Blvd, serves Edinburg’s 158,163 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial 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 Edinburg’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Edinburg’s civic life grade?
D− Edinburg has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Edinburg.
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.