Stephen Decatur Lawrence Farmstead · Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Mesquite’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Mesquite Public Library serves Mesquite’s 147,317 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 257K books, movies and e-books and logged 166K visits.
Mesquite’s library, in brief
Mesquite Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mesquite Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mesquite Public Library offered 480 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 14% of the people Mesquite Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 480 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Mesquite’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mesquite is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #486 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #368. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Mesquite’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Mesquite Public Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($54K–$91K) 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 →
237 community nonprofits are registered in Mesquite
1.6 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 (159 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.6%
2.6% of Mesquite’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 Mesquite’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Mesquite Public Library serves 147,317 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
257K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 179K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
60,963 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Mesquite last year.
2 places to borrow in Mesquite
Mesquite Public Library, 300 W Grubb Dr, Mesquite.
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 Mesquite? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Mesquite
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mesquite cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 20,749 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mesquite ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale | Doris Padgett Library | 5.1 | 43 | C |
| Dallas | Dallas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 48 | D |
| Garland | Nicholson Memorial Library System fine-free | 3.1 | 63 | D− |
| Mesquite | Mesquite Public Library fine-free | 1.7 | 57 | D− |
| Balch Springs | Balch Springs Library - Learning Center fine-free | 1.7 | 46 | D− |
| Seagoville | Seagoville Public Library | 0.8 | 42 | D− |
| Heartland | 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 Mesquite
Does Mesquite have a public library?
Yes. Mesquite Public Library, 300 W Grubb Dr, serves Mesquite’s 147,317 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mesquite 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 Mesquite’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Mesquite’s civic life grade?
D− Mesquite is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #486 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 Mesquite.
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.