Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Kyle’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Kyle Public Library serves Kyle’s 82,594 residents. Last year it lent 231K books, movies and e-books and logged 81K visits.
Kyle’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Kyle Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people Kyle Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Kyle Public Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Kyle Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 57% of similar-size libraries. 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 Kyle’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kyle is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #428 of 539 in Texas. Kyle is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Kyle’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Kyle Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($68K–$113K) 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 →
118 community nonprofits are registered in Kyle
2.1 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 (37 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Kyle’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 Kyle’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Kyle Public Library serves 82,594 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 86 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
231K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 68K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
37,623 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Kyle last year.
Find it
Kyle Public Library, 550 Scott St., Kyle.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kyle? 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 $3.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kyle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 13,578 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Kyle ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buda | Buda Public Library fine-free | 10.0 | 51 | C− |
| San Marcos | San Marcos Public Library fine-free | 4.0 | 67 | C− |
| Kyle | Kyle Public Library | 2.8 | 52 | D |
| Mountain City | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Kyle
Does Kyle have a public library?
Yes. Kyle Public Library, 550 Scott St., serves Kyle’s 82,594 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kyle 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 Kyle’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Kyle’s civic life grade?
D Kyle is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #428 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 Kyle.
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.