Photo: Randy Colborn · CC BY-SA 4.0Garland’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Nicholson Memorial Library System serves Garland’s 243,470 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 746K books, movies and e-books and logged 266K visits.
The short version on Garland’s library
Nicholson Memorial Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Nicholson Memorial Library System records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Most of Garland’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans. Print still makes up 46%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Nicholson Memorial Library System offered 1,085 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Four places to borrow in Garland
Nicholson Memorial Library System runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Garland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garland is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #472 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #358. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Garland’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
460 community nonprofits are registered in Garland
1.9 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 (302 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 37 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of Garland’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 Garland’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
746K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 186K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
404,050 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Nicholson Memorial Library System serves 243,470 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 80 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 10 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 Garland last year.
4 places to borrow in Garland
Nicholson Memorial Library System, 625 Austin St., Garland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Garland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Garland
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Garland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 114,424 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Garland ranks 6th of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richardson | Richardson Public Library | 7.1 | 66 | C |
| Sunnyvale | Doris Padgett Library | 5.1 | 43 | C |
| Sachse | Sachse Public Library fine-free | 5.0 | 57 | C− |
| Dallas | Dallas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 48 | D |
| Rowlett | Rowlett Public Library | 3.6 | 58 | C− |
| Garland | Nicholson Memorial Library System fine-free | 3.1 | 63 | D− |
| Mesquite | Mesquite Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 57 | D− |
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 Garland
Does Garland have a public library?
Yes. Nicholson Memorial Library System, 625 Austin St., serves Garland’s 243,470 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 63 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nicholson Memorial Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Garland’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Garland’s civic life grade?
D− Garland is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #472 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 Garland.
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.