Photo: Not home at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Laredo’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Laredo Public Library serves Laredo’s 257,602 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 281K books, movies and e-books and logged 302K visits.
Laredo’s library, in brief
Laredo Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Laredo Public Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 81% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 86% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Five places to borrow in Laredo
Laredo Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Laredo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Laredo has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #372. Library visits come closest to the U.S. middle.
Laredo Public Library spends $19 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
293 community nonprofits are registered in Laredo
1.1 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 (115 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Laredo’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 Laredo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Laredo Public Library serves 257,602 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
281K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 238K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
71,077 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 Laredo last year.
5 places to borrow in Laredo
Laredo Public Library, 1120 E Calton Rd, Laredo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Laredo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Laredo
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Laredo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M 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 120,311 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laredo | Laredo Public Library | 1.1 | 60 | D− |
| Los Minerales | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Laredo Ranchettes | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| La Presa | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Los Corralitos | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Tanquecitos South Acres | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rio Bravo | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Los Altos | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| San Carlos I | 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 Laredo
Does Laredo have a public library?
Yes. Laredo Public Library, 1120 E Calton Rd, serves Laredo’s 257,602 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Laredo 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 Laredo’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Laredo’s civic life grade?
D− Laredo has fewer library visits and community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Laredo.
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.