Photo: Theunderratedtaco · CC BY-SA 4.0Mission’s library logs 1.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Speer Memorial Library serves Mission’s 130,496 residents. Last year it lent 87K books, movies and e-books and logged 251K visits.
Mission’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Speer Memorial Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Speer Memorial Library offered 524 programs last year, 4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 74 hours a week
Speer Memorial Library is open about 74 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out. The building ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Speer Memorial Library lends 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, fewer than 96% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Speer Memorial Library spends $11 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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 Mission’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mission has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Mission is graded on two of the three inputs. Mission’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Speer Memorial Library spends $11 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$76K) 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 →
122 community nonprofits are registered in Mission
1.4 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 (42 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.9%
1.9% of Mission’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 Mission’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.
Speer Memorial Library serves 130,496 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
87K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 128K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
14,176 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 Mission last year.
Find it
Speer Memorial Library, 801 E 12th St., Mission.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mission? 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 Mission cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 2,298 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Mission ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McAllen | Mcallen Public Library | 2.1 | 72 | D− |
| Mission | Speer Memorial Library | 0.7 | 74 | D− |
| Palmview | Palmview Municipal Library | 0.0 | 48 | D− |
| La Homa | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| West Sharyland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Palmview South | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Abram | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Palmhurst | 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 Mission
Does Mission have a public library?
Yes. Speer Memorial Library, 801 E 12th St., serves Mission’s 130,496 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 74 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Speer 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 Mission’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Mission’s civic life grade?
D− Mission 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 Mission.
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.