Photo: Katie Haugland Brown · CC BY 2.0Houston’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Houston Public Library serves Houston’s 2,314,157 residents from 38 locations. Last year it lent 6.5M books, movies and e-books and logged 2.1M visits.
What Houston’s library is like
Houston Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Houston Public Library records 0.9 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. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
38 places to borrow in Houston
Houston Public Library runs 38 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Most of Houston’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Houston Public Library offered 10,179 programs last year, 4.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
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 Houston’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Houston is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #420 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #311. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Houston’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Houston Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$81K) 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 →
7,422 community nonprofits are registered in Houston
3.2 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 (2,828 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 583 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Houston’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 Houston’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.
Houston Public Library serves 2,314,157 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 90 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
50% of borrowing is digital
6.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 2.4M books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
3,211,916 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 107 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 Houston last year.
48 places to borrow in Houston
Houston Public Library, 500 Mckinney St., Houston.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Houston? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Houston
And 35 more in Houston.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Houston cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $134M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5M 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 1,985,591 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | Houston Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 44 | D |
| Pasadena | Pasadena Public Library fine-free | 2.8 | 51 | D− |
| Mission Bend | Mission Bend Branch Library | — | 45 | — unincorporated |
| Cinco Ranch | Cinco Ranch Branch Library | — | 45 | — unincorporated |
| Pearland | Tom Reid Library | — | 56 | C |
| Humble | Octavia Fields Branch Library fine-free | — | 47 | C |
| Channelview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Spring | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Atascocita | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Fresno | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Four Corners | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Houston
Does Houston have a public library?
Yes. Houston Public Library, 500 Mckinney St., serves Houston’s 2,314,157 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Houston Public Library 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 Houston’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Houston’s civic life grade?
D Houston is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #420 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 Houston.
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.