Photo: Jim Evans · CC BY-SA 4.0La Marque’s library lends 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
La Marque Public Library serves La Marque’s 22,426 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What La Marque’s library is like
La Marque Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
La Marque Public Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
La Marque Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
La Marque Public Library holds 31,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once 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 La Marque’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, La Marque is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #387 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; La Marque’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
La Marque Public Library spends $15 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) 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 →
62 community nonprofits are registered in La Marque
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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of La Marque’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 La Marque’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
La Marque Public Library serves 22,426 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
2,896 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 La Marque last year.
Find it
La Marque Public Library, 1011 Bayou Rd, La Marque.
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 La Marque? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average La Marque cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $326K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $209K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $326K 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 11,725 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
La Marque ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas City | Moore Memorial Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 56 | D− |
| Hitchcock | Genevieve Miller Hitchcock Public Library | 1.2 | 32 | C− |
| La Marque | La Marque Public Library fine-free | 0.5 | 38 | D |
| Bayou Vista | 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 La Marque
Does La Marque have a public library?
Yes. La Marque Public Library, 1011 Bayou Rd, serves La Marque’s 22,426 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is La Marque 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 La Marque’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is La Marque’s civic life grade?
D La Marque is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #387 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 La Marque.
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.