Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Kenedy’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Kenedy Public Library serves Kenedy’s 6,410 residents. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,084 visits.
What’s behind Kenedy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kenedy is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #422 of 539 in Texas. Kenedy is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Kenedy’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Kenedy
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.9%
2.9% of Kenedy’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 Kenedy’s 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.
Kenedy Public Library serves 6,410 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. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
1,261 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Kenedy last year.
Find it
Kenedy Public Library, 303 W Main St., Kenedy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kenedy? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kenedy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $183K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $213K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $183K 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 2,710 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 Kenedy
Does Kenedy have a public library?
Yes. Kenedy Public Library, 303 W Main St., serves Kenedy’s 6,410 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kenedy 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 Kenedy’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Kenedy’s civic life grade?
D Kenedy is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #422 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 Kenedy.
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.