Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainPort Arthur’s library logs 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Port Arthur Public Library serves Port Arthur’s 55,547 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 82K visits.
What Port Arthur’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Port Arthur’s library lends 0.3 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Nederland at 5.4. Libraries next door ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Port Arthur Public Library offered 112 programs last year, 2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Port Arthur Public Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Port Arthur Public Library holds 36,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Port Arthur’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Port Arthur is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #272 of 539 in Texas. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($35K–$58K) 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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in Port Arthur
2.3 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 (73 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.0%
9.0% of Port Arthur’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 Port Arthur’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Port Arthur Public Library serves 55,547 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
7,454 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
112 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 Port Arthur last year.
Find it
Port Arthur Public Library, 4615 9th Ave, Port Arthur.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Port Arthur? 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 Port Arthur cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $323K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 4,103 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Port Arthur ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nederland | Marion & Ed Hughes Public Library | 5.4 | 46 | A− |
| Port Neches | Effie & Wilton Hebert Public Library | 3.6 | 57 | A− |
| Groves | Groves Public Library | 3.3 | 49 | C |
| Port Arthur | Port Arthur Public Library | 0.3 | 55 | C |
| Beauxart Gardens | 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.
- 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 Port Arthur
Does Port Arthur have a public library?
Yes. Port Arthur Public Library, 4615 9th Ave, serves Port Arthur’s 55,547 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Port Arthur 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 Port Arthur’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Port Arthur’s civic life grade?
C Port Arthur is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #272 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 Port Arthur.
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.