Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Mount Pleasant’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mount Pleasant Public Library serves Mount Pleasant’s 16,055 residents. Last year it lent 91K books, movies and e-books and logged 44K visits.
What stands out about Mount Pleasant’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Pleasant’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Pleasant is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #276 of 539 in Texas. Mount Pleasant’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$63K) 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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Pleasant
4.3 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 (45 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Mount Pleasant’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 Mount Pleasant’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mount Pleasant Public Library serves 16,055 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
91K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
15,994 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Mount Pleasant last year.
Find it
Mount Pleasant Public Library, 601 N Madison Ave, Mt Pleasant.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mount Pleasant? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Pleasant cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $616K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $616K 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 19,394 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Mount Pleasant
Does Mount Pleasant have a public library?
Yes. Mount Pleasant Public Library, 601 N Madison Ave, serves Mount Pleasant’s 16,055 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mount Pleasant 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 Mount Pleasant’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mount Pleasant’s civic life grade?
C Mount Pleasant is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #276 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 Mount Pleasant.
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.