Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY 4.0Odessa’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Ector County Library serves 164,494 people in and around Odessa. Last year it lent 245K books, movies and e-books and logged 230K visits.
The short version on Odessa’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Ector County Library offered 339 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
161,252 cards for 164,494 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Ector County Library spends $12 per resident, less than 96% 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; Ector County Library serves 164,494 people in and around Odessa, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Odessa’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Odessa is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #433 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #319. Odessa is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Odessa’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Ector County Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
305 community nonprofits are registered in Odessa
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (124 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.6%
3.6% of Odessa’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 Odessa’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ector County Library serves 164,494 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 86 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ector County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
245K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
28,741 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Ector County Library, 321 W 5th St., Odessa.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ector County Library branch.
New in Odessa? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Odessa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 161,252 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odessa | Ector County Library | — | 55 | D |
| West Odessa | 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.
- System-wide. Ector County Library serves 164,494 people in and around Odessa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Odessa.
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 Odessa
Does Odessa have a public library?
Yes. Ector County Library, 321 W 5th St., serves 164,494 people in and around Odessa (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ector County 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 Odessa’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Odessa’s civic life grade?
D Odessa is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #433 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 Odessa.
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.