Photo: Theunderratedtaco · CC BY-SA 4.0McAllen’s library lends 1.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Mcallen Public Library serves McAllen’s 219,148 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 450K books, movies and e-books and logged 472K visits.
McAllen’s library, in brief
McAllen out-borrows every town next door
At 2.1 loans per resident, McAllen leads the five towns here. The closest is Edinburg, at 1. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 72 hours a week
The main library is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out. The buildings ↓
Three places to borrow in McAllen
Mcallen Public Library runs three 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 McAllen’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, McAllen is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #464 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #354. McAllen is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; McAllen’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
322 community nonprofits are registered in McAllen
2.2 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 (162 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.1%
3.1% of McAllen’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 McAllen’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mcallen Public Library serves 219,148 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
450K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 328K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
60,618 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 McAllen last year.
3 places to borrow in McAllen
Mcallen Public Library, 4001 N 23rd St., Mcallen.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in McAllen? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in McAllen
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.42 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McAllen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.2M 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 135,193 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
McAllen borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen | Mcallen Public Library | 2.1 | 72 | D− |
| Edinburg | Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library | 1.0 | 62 | D− |
| Pharr | Pharr Memorial Library | 0.8 | 63 | D− |
| Hidalgo | Hidalgo Public Library | 0.8 | 49 | D− |
| Mission | Speer Memorial Library | 0.7 | 74 | D− |
| Granjeno | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Alton | 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 McAllen
Does McAllen have a public library?
Yes. Mcallen Public Library, 4001 N 23rd St., serves McAllen’s 219,148 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 72 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mcallen 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 McAllen’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is McAllen’s civic life grade?
D− McAllen is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #464 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 McAllen.
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.