Old St. Anthony's Catholic Church · Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 3.0Robstown’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Nueces County Public Libraries serves 32,230 people in and around Robstown. Last year it lent 237K books, movies and e-books and logged 38K visits.
What stands out about Nueces County Public Libraries
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Robstown’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Robstown is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #484 of 539 in Texas. Robstown is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Robstown’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($26K–$43K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Robstown
1.6 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.2%
3.2% of Robstown’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 Robstown’s residents live; 2022.
69% of borrowing is digital
237K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
163,787 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Nueces County Public Libraries serves 32,230 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Nueces County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
About 6 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
Nueces County Public Libraries, 1000 Terry Shamsie Blvd, Robstown.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Nueces County Public Libraries branch.
New in Robstown? 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 $9.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Robstown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $992K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $992K 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 9,904 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robstown | Nueces County Public Libraries | — | 44 | D− |
| North San Pedro | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Nueces County Public Libraries serves 32,230 people in and around Robstown, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Robstown.
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 Robstown
Does Robstown have a public library?
Yes. Nueces County Public Libraries, 1000 Terry Shamsie Blvd, serves 32,230 people in and around Robstown (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nueces County Public Libraries 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 Robstown’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 7.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Robstown’s civic life grade?
D− Robstown is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #484 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 Robstown.
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.