Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0Port Lavaca’s library runs 16 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Calhoun County Public Library serves 19,696 people in and around Port Lavaca. Last year it lent 66K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
Port Lavaca’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Calhoun County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
54% of the 317 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 145 were for children. 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; Calhoun County Public Library serves 19,696 people in and around Port Lavaca, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Port Lavaca’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Port Lavaca is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #85 of 539 in Texas. Port Lavaca is graded on two of the three inputs. Port Lavaca’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
63 community nonprofits are registered in Port Lavaca
5.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.0%
7.0% of Port Lavaca’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 Lavaca’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Calhoun County Public Library serves 19,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Calhoun County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,288 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Calhoun County Public Library, 200 W Mahan St., Port Lavaca.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Calhoun County Public Library branch.
New in Port Lavaca? 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 $1.40 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Port Lavaca cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $793K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $793K 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 4,293 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Calhoun County Public Library serves 19,696 people in and around Port Lavaca, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Port Lavaca.
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 Lavaca
Does Port Lavaca have a public library?
Yes. Calhoun County Public Library, 200 W Mahan St., serves 19,696 people in and around Port Lavaca (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calhoun County 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 Lavaca’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Port Lavaca’s civic life grade?
B Port Lavaca is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #85 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 Lavaca.
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.