Penitas’ library logs 3.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Penitas Public Library serves Penitas’s 9,464 residents. Last year it lent 98K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Penitas’s library
Most of Penitas’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 98% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 2%. What people borrow ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Penitas Public Library lends 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, fewer than 99% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. 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.
What’s behind Penitas’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Penitas has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Penitas is graded on two of the three inputs. Penitas’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Penitas Public Library spends $22 per resident, against a typical $43 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Penitas
0.6 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
0.8%
0.8% of Penitas’ 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 Penitas’ residents live; 2022.
98% of borrowing is digital
98K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
96,212 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Penitas Public Library serves 9,464 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
131 programs a year
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 Penitas last year.
Find it
Penitas Public Library, 1111 S Main St., Penitas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Penitas? 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 $7.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Penitas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $212K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $212K 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 273 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.
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 Penitas
Does Penitas have a public library?
Yes. Penitas Public Library, 1111 S Main St., serves Penitas’ 9,464 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Penitas 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 Penitas’ library?
It logged 3.1 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Penitas’ civic life grade?
D− Penitas 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 Penitas.
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.