T. H. Mathis House · Photo: Homer Lansberry · Public domainRockport’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Aransas County Public Library serves 24,253 people in and around Rockport. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Rockport’s library
Aransas County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Aransas County Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Aransas County Public Library offered 81 programs last year, 3.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Aransas County Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Aransas County Public Library serves 24,253 people in and around Rockport, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rockport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rockport is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #8 of 539 in Texas. Rockport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Rockport’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
100 community nonprofits are registered in Rockport
9.4 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of Rockport’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 Rockport’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Aransas County Public Library serves 24,253 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 Aransas County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,648 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
81 programs a year
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
Aransas County Public Library, 701 E Mimosa St., Rockport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Aransas County Public Library branch.
New in Rockport? 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rockport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $269K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $497K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $269K 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 10,814 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockport | Aransas County Public Library | — | 49 | A |
| Fulton | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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. Aransas County Public Library serves 24,253 people in and around Rockport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rockport.
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 Rockport
Does Rockport have a public library?
Yes. Aransas County Public Library, 701 E Mimosa St., serves 24,253 people in and around Rockport (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aransas 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 Rockport’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Rockport’s civic life grade?
A Rockport is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Rockport.
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.