Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Palacios’ library runs 59 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Palacios Library Inc serves 7,250 people in and around Palacios. Last year it lent 4,943 books, movies and e-books and drew 3,798 people to its programs.
What Palacios’s library is like
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
36% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 64%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 430 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.7 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; Palacios Library Inc serves 7,250 people in and around Palacios, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Palacios’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Palacios is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns, #168 of 539 in Texas. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Palacios is graded on two of the three inputs. Palacios’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Palacios’ 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$66K) 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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Palacios
8.2 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.1%
3.1% of Palacios’ 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 Palacios’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Palacios Library Inc serves 7,250 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Palacios Library Inc system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,943 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
142 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, 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
Palacios Library Inc, 326 Main St., Palacios.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Palacios Library Inc branch.
New in Palacios? 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 Palacios cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $154K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $112K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $154K 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 3,537 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Palacios Library Inc didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Palacios Library Inc serves 7,250 people in and around Palacios, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Palacios.
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 Palacios
Does Palacios have a public library?
Yes. Palacios Library Inc, 326 Main St., serves 7,250 people in and around Palacios (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Palacios Library Inc 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 Palacios’ library?
It lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 430 programs that drew 3,798 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Palacios’ civic life grade?
C+ Palacios is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life, #168 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 Palacios.
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.