Photo: ProfReader · CC BY-SA 3.0Gonzales’ library logs 7.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Gonzales Public Library serves Gonzales’s 7,221 residents. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 57K visits.
The short version on Gonzales’s library
More library cards than residents
16,898 cards for 7,221 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 ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 89% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 42%. The building also logs about 19 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Gonzales ranks 5th in Texas for library use
Out of 181 Texas towns with a library of their own, Gonzales comes 5th for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Gonzales Public Library offered 37 programs last year, 5.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Gonzales Public Library holds 42,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. 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 Gonzales’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gonzales is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #52 of 539 in Texas. Gonzales’ count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Gonzales
9.7 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Gonzales’ 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 Gonzales’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Gonzales Public Library serves 7,221 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
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
4,380 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
37 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 Gonzales last year.
Find it
Gonzales Public Library, 301 Saint Joseph St., Gonzales.
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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gonzales cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $376K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $439K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $376K 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 16,898 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 Gonzales
Does Gonzales have a public library?
Yes. Gonzales Public Library, 301 Saint Joseph St., serves Gonzales’ 7,221 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gonzales 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 Gonzales’ library?
It logged 7.9 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gonzales’ civic life grade?
A− Gonzales is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #52 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 Gonzales.
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.