Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Round Rock’s library logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Round Rock Public Library System serves Round Rock’s 130,406 residents. Last year it lent 1.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 552K visits.
What Round Rock’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Round Rock last year. Kids & programs ↓
Round Rock uses its library more than almost any town its size
Round Rock Public Library System logs 4.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.7 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 ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 166,000 items on the shelves went out about 6.8 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Top 10% in Texas for kids’ borrowing
Round Rock ranks #10 of 183 Texas towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Round Rock Public Library System charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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.
What’s behind Round Rock’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Round Rock is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #154 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #95. 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 →
456 community nonprofits are registered in Round Rock
3.6 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 (160 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Round Rock’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 Round Rock’s residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 Round Rock last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Round Rock Public Library System serves 130,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 361 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 166K books and other items on the shelves went out about 6.8 times last year, on average.
142,510 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Round Rock Public Library System, 200 E Liberty Ave, Round Rock.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Round Rock? 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 $3.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Round Rock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.8M 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 81,173 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Round Rock borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round Rock | Round Rock Public Library System | 9.8 | 68 | B− |
| Pflugerville | Pflugerville Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 60 | C |
| Austin | Austin Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 61 | B |
| Georgetown | Georgetown Public Library fine-free | 7.5 | 64 | B− |
| Brushy Creek | 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 Round Rock
Does Round Rock have a public library?
Yes. Round Rock Public Library System, 200 E Liberty Ave, serves Round Rock’s 130,406 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Round Rock Public Library System 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 Round Rock’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Round Rock’s civic life grade?
B− Round Rock is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #154 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 Round Rock.
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.