Photo: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0Falfurrias’ library runs 2.5 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Ed Rachal Memorial Library serves 6,848 people in and around Falfurrias. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Falfurrias’s library is like
More library cards than residents
8,600 cards for 6,848 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Ed Rachal Memorial Library offered 17 programs last year, 2.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ed Rachal Memorial Library spends $10 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% 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; Ed Rachal Memorial Library serves 6,848 people in and around Falfurrias, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Falfurrias’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Falfurrias is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #241 of 539 in Texas. Falfurrias is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Falfurrias’ count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Falfurrias
2.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.6%
7.6% of Falfurrias’ 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 Falfurrias’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ed Rachal Memorial Library serves 6,848 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ed Rachal Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17 programs a year
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
Ed Rachal Memorial Library, 203 S Calixto Mora Ave, Falfurrias.
Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Ed Rachal Memorial Library branch.
New in Falfurrias? 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 $2.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Falfurrias cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $68K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $196K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $68K 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 8,600 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ed Rachal Memorial Library serves 6,848 people in and around Falfurrias, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Falfurrias.
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 Falfurrias
Does Falfurrias have a public library?
Yes. Ed Rachal Memorial Library, 203 S Calixto Mora Ave, serves 6,848 people in and around Falfurrias (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ed Rachal Memorial Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Falfurrias’ library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Falfurrias’ civic life grade?
C Falfurrias is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #241 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 Falfurrias.
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.