Ammie Wilson House · Photo: Susan Bartley · CC BY-SA 3.0Plano’s library logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Plano Public Library System serves Plano’s 290,190 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 3.7M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.7M visits.
Plano’s library, in brief
Plano uses its library more than almost any town its size
Plano Public Library System logs 6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Plano last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in Texas for borrowing
Plano ranks #8 of 183 Texas towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 8.6 items per resident, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 518,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average. 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 Plano’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plano is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #106 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #68. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
1,027 community nonprofits are registered in Plano
3.5 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 (328 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 109 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Plano’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 Plano’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 215 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Plano Public Library System serves 290,190 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 518K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.8 times last year, on average.
1,215,546 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 42 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 Plano last year.
5 places to borrow in Plano
Plano Public Library System, 2501 Coit Rd, Plano.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plano? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Plano
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plano cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $16M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $55M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 227,272 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Plano ranks 2nd of 7 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frisco | Frisco Public Library fine-free | 15.2 | 71 | B+ |
| Plano | Plano Public Library System fine-free | 12.8 | 66 | B |
| Allen | Allen Public Library | 9.6 | 61 | C+ |
| Richardson | Richardson Public Library | 7.1 | 66 | C |
| Dallas | Dallas Public Library fine-free | 4.4 | 48 | D |
| Carrollton | Carrollton Public Library fine-free | 4.2 | 46 | D |
| The Colony | The Colony Public Library fine-free | 2.1 | 47 | C− |
| Parker | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Hebron | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Murphy | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 Plano
Does Plano have a public library?
Yes. Plano Public Library System, 2501 Coit Rd, serves Plano’s 290,190 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plano Public Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Plano’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 12.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Plano’s civic life grade?
B Plano is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #106 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 Plano.
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.