Photo: Djmaschek · CC BY-SA 4.0El Campo’s library is a branch of Wharton County Library, which lends less per resident than 66% of systems its size
El Campo’s library is the El Campo Branch Library, a branch of Wharton County Library, which serves 41,739 people and lent 122K items last year.
What El Campo’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 81% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 34%. Program attendance beats 80% of similar libraries. A year at the library ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 53% 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; El Campo’s library is a branch of Wharton County Library, so they cover the whole system (41,739 people), not just the El Campo branch.
What’s behind El Campo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, El Campo is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns, #188 of 539 in Texas. El Campo is graded on two of the three inputs. El Campo’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in El Campo
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
4.8%
4.8% of El Campo’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 El Campo’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Wharton County Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Wharton County Library serves 41,739 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
122K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,121 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
El Campo Branch Library, 200 W Church St., El Campo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Wharton County Library branch.
New in El Campo? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average El Campo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 16,483 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. El Campo Branch Library is one branch of Wharton County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 41,739 people it serves.
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 El Campo
Does El Campo have a public library?
Yes: El Campo Branch Library, 200 W Church St., is a branch of Wharton County Library, which serves 41,739 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Wharton 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 El Campo’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is El Campo’s civic life grade?
C+ El Campo is ahead of 40% of U.S. towns on civic life, #188 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 El Campo.
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.