Photo: Akissforme · CC BY-SA 3.0Mercedes’ library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library serves Mercedes’s 25,013 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.
The short version on Mercedes’s library
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library is used less than most libraries its size
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $23 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Most of Mercedes’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 52% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library holds 28,000 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 Mercedes’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mercedes has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Mercedes is graded on two of the three inputs. Mercedes’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library spends $23 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$59K) 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Mercedes
1.2 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
1.5%
1.5% of Mercedes’ 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 Mercedes’ residents live; 2022.
52% of borrowing is digital
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
9,127 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library serves 25,013 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Mercedes last year.
Find it
Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library, 434 S Ohio St., Mercedes.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mercedes? 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 Mercedes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $571K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $405K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $571K 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 9,499 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library | 0.7 | 45 | D− |
| Weslaco | Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library | 0.5 | 66 | D− |
| Heidelberg | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Mercedes
Does Mercedes have a public library?
Yes. Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library, 434 S Ohio St., serves Mercedes’ 25,013 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial 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 Mercedes’ library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Mercedes’ civic life grade?
D− Mercedes has fewer 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 Mercedes.
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.