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Johnston, Joseph E., Confederate Reunion GroundsJohnston, Joseph E., Confederate Reunion Grounds · Photo: TxHC. Original uploader was TxHC at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Gibbs Memorial Library

Mexia’s library runs 1.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size

Gibbs Memorial Library serves Mexia’s 14,572 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.

305 E Rusk St., Mexia 76667 · about 45 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 44% of U.S. towns · #170 of 539 in Texas. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (254) 562-3231 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
25K
1.7 per resident
Visits a year
25K
1.7 per resident · Below typical (3.1)
Programs & events
27
about 1 a week · 387 attended
Cardholders
14%
1,985 cards
Open
45 hrs
a week
In brief

What Mexia’s library is like

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Gibbs Memorial Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓

Few programs for a library this size

Gibbs Memorial Library offered 27 programs last year, 1.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓

Few residents carry a card

Only 14% of the people Gibbs Memorial Library serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓

Gifts and endowments pay a real share

26% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 74%. What your card is worth ↓

A big collection for the borrowing it gets

Gibbs Memorial Library holds 42,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years 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.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Mexia’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mexia is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #170 of 539 in Texas. Mexia is graded on two of the three inputs. Mexia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Mexia’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureACommunity nonprofits7.0 per 1,000 residents · TX towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.1% of adults 25–44 · TX towns 5.7% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 44%
FewerMore
Texas towns we grade (539)Ahead of 69%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $32K–$53K (2,612)Ahead of 51%

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Mexia is small (7,091 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

48 community nonprofits are registered in Mexia

7.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.44 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation71.02 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans121.75 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services101.46 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education50.73 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health20.29 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals40.58 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other50.73 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.1%

4.1% of Mexia’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 Mexia’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.7 visits · typical 3.1Lower than 75%
Borrowing per resident 1.5 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 83%
Digital borrowing 0.2 e-items · typical 1.1Bottom 10%
Kids’ borrowing 0.7 kids’ items · typical 1.8Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0 attendees · typical 0.4Bottom 10%
Programs offered 1.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 24Bottom 10%
Cardholders 14% of residents · typical 40%Bottom 10%
Spending $16 per resident · typical $43Lower than 89%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Gibbs Memorial Library serves 14,572 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

25K
visits
1.7 per resident
25K
loans, print + digital
1.7 per resident
27
programs & events
387 attended
1,985
library cards
14% of people served
Every open hour12items borrowed
Every week7people at a program
Every week490visits
3 staff (full-time equivalent)9 public computers42K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

25Kloans
Books & media (adults) 48%Kids’ books & media 40%E-books, audio & streaming 12%
How hard the shelves work
0.5×

Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.

From your couch

3,099 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

27 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Mexia →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–515
Ages 6–1112
Teens0
Adults0
All ages0
Little ones
0.3

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
7

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mexia last year.

387
people at programs
27
programs
The building

Find it

Gibbs Memorial Library, 305 E Rusk St., Mexia.

Directions(254) 562-3231
45
hours open a week
8,900
square feet
42K
books & media
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Mexia? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.67 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mexia cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$16 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $228K.

Local taxes 74%Gifts & other 26%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $381K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $228K 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 1,985 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

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 Mexia

Does Mexia have a public library?

Yes. Gibbs Memorial Library, 305 E Rusk St., serves Mexia’s 14,572 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Gibbs 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 Mexia’s library?

It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.

What is Mexia’s civic life grade?

C+ Mexia is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #170 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 Mexia.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.