Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Round Top’s library logs 105 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Round Top Family Library serves 93 people in and around Round Top. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,727 visits.
The short version on Round Top’s library
More library cards than residents
2,905 cards for 93 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
100% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Most of Round Top’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 89% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 11%. What people borrow ↓
Round Top uses its library more than almost any town its size
Round Top Family Library logs 105 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 45 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 99% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
109 times the programs of a typical library its size
Round Top Family Library ran 611 programs last year, about 12 a week. That’s 6,570 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 6,015 attended. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Round Top’s civic life grade
Round Top isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
89% of borrowing is digital
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
33,855 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Round Top Family Library serves 93 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 6 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.
Find it
Round Top Family Library, 206 W Mill St., Round Top.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Round Top? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Round Top cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $409K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $638K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $409K 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 2,905 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Round Top’s 9,727 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Top
Does Round Top have a public library?
Yes. Round Top Family Library, 206 W Mill St., serves 93 people in and around Round Top (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Round Top Family 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 Round Top’s library?
It logged 104.6 visits and lent 409.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Round Top’s civic life grade?
Round Top isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Round Top.
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.