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City Hall Lago Vista Texas 2022Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
Lago Vista Public Library

Lago Vista’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size

Lago Vista Public Library serves Lago Vista’s 10,009 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.

5803 Thunderbird Ste 40, Lago Vista 78645 · about 46 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 53% of U.S. towns · #119 of 539 in Texas. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
39K
3.9 per resident
Visits a year
23K
2.3 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
517
about 10 a week · 6,910 attended
Cardholders
25%
2,464 cards
Open
46 hrs
a week

What stands out about Lago Vista’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Lago Vista’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lago Vista is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #119 of 539 in Texas. Lago Vista’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Lago Vista’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 53%
FewerMore
Texas towns we grade (539)Ahead of 78%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $85K–$142K (5,379)Ahead of 57%

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.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

68 community nonprofits are registered in Lago Vista

7.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture70.73 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation131.35 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans70.73 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services121.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education171.75 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.17 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals50.55 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other50.52 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (16 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.

Volunteering

7.0%

7.0% of Lago Vista’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 Lago Vista’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Lago Vista →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–551
Ages 6–1173
Teens13
Adults378
All ages2
Little ones
1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
10

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lago Vista last year.

6,910
people at programs
517
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.3 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 65%
Borrowing per resident 2.5 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 69%
Digital borrowing 1.4 e-items · typical 1.1Higher than 59%
Kids’ borrowing 1.3 kids’ items · typical 1.8Lower than 61%
Program attendance 0.7 attendees · typical 0.4Higher than 72%
Programs offered 51.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Higher than 88%
Cardholders 25% of residents · typical 40%Lower than 79%
Spending $34 per resident · typical $43Lower than 64%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in TX#93Most-used librariesof 181 towns
#87Most library borrowingof 183 towns
#55Best libraries for kidsof 183 towns
Size group

Lago Vista Public Library serves 10,009 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

23K
visits
2.3 per resident
39K
loans, print + digital
3.9 per resident
517
programs & events
6,910 attended
2,464
library cards
25% of people served
Every open hour16items borrowed
Every week133people at a program
Every day1Wi-Fi sessions
4 staff (full-time equivalent)8 public computers17K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

39Kloans
Books & media (adults) 30%Kids’ books & media 34%E-books, audio & streaming 35%
How hard the shelves work
1.5×

Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.

From your couch

13,836 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

Find it

Lago Vista Public Library, 5803 Thunderbird Ste 40, Lago Vista.

46
hours open a week
5,142
square feet
17K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Lago Vista? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.91 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lago Vista cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$34 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $336K.

Local taxes 99%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $641K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $336K 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 2,464 cardholders ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Lago VistaLago Vista Public Library fine-free3.946B−
JonestownJonestown Community Library fine-free2.045C−

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).

How to read these numbers

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 Lago Vista

Does Lago Vista have a public library?

Yes. Lago Vista Public Library, 5803 Thunderbird Ste 40, serves Lago Vista’s 10,009 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Lago Vista 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 Lago Vista’s library?

It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Lago Vista’s civic life grade?

B− Lago Vista is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #119 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 Lago Vista.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.