Photo: A Yee · CC BY 2.0Leander’s library runs 7.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Leander Public Library serves Leander’s 80,067 residents. Last year it lent 356K books, movies and e-books and logged 128K visits.
What Leander’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 75% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 72% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Leander Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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 Leander’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Leander is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #256 of 539 in Texas. Leander’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($104K–$174K) 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 →
310 community nonprofits are registered in Leander
4.2 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 (73 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 15 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Leander’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 Leander’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Leander Public Library serves 80,067 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 132 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
356K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 78K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
50,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Leander last year.
Find it
Leander Public Library, 1011 S Bagdad Rd, Leander.
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 Leander? 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 $4.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Leander cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 43,796 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Leander ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Park | Cedar Park Public Library fine-free | 13.6 | 66 | C+ |
| Georgetown | Georgetown Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 64 | B− |
| Leander | Leander Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 52 | C |
| Jonestown | Jonestown Community Library fine-free | 2.0 | 45 | C− |
| Liberty Hill | Liberty Hill Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
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 Leander
Does Leander have a public library?
Yes. Leander Public Library, 1011 S Bagdad Rd, serves Leander’s 80,067 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Leander 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 Leander’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Leander’s civic life grade?
C Leander is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #256 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 Leander.
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.