Grand Prairie’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Grand Prairie Public Library System serves Grand Prairie’s 202,134 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 377K books, movies and e-books and logged 374K visits.
The short version on Grand Prairie’s library
Every town next door borrows more
Grand Prairie’s library lends 1.9 items per resident. Each of the five neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Irving at 5.2. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Grand Prairie Public Library System charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the six libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 80% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Grand Prairie Public Library System lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, fewer than 90% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Three places to borrow in Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie Public Library System runs three 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 Grand Prairie’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Grand Prairie is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #445 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #335. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Grand Prairie Public Library System spends $19 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) 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 →
431 community nonprofits are registered in Grand Prairie
2.1 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 (229 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 44 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.3%
3.3% of Grand Prairie’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 Grand Prairie’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.
Grand Prairie Public Library System serves 202,134 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
377K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 142K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
134,693 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Grand Prairie last year.
3 places to borrow in Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie Public Library System, 901 Conover Dr, Grand Prairie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Grand Prairie? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Grand Prairie
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Grand Prairie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.8M 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 88,407 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Grand Prairie ranks 6th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Irving | South Irving Library fine-free | 5.2 | 62 | D |
| Mansfield | Mansfield Public Library | 4.7 | 48 | C− |
| Dallas | Dallas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 48 | D |
| Arlington | Arlington Public Library System | 4.1 | 70 | D |
| Cedar Hill | Traphene Hickman Library fine-free | 3.8 | 54 | C |
| Grand Prairie | Grand Prairie Public Library System | 1.9 | 52 | D |
| Midlothian | Midlothian Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
| Fort Worth | None of its own | — | — | 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 Grand Prairie
Does Grand Prairie have a public library?
Yes. Grand Prairie Public Library System, 901 Conover Dr, serves Grand Prairie’s 202,134 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Grand Prairie Public Library System 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 Grand Prairie’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Grand Prairie’s civic life grade?
D Grand Prairie is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #445 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 Grand Prairie.
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.