Fort Concho Historic District · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0San Angelo’s library runs 14 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Tom Green County Library System serves 119,057 people in and around San Angelo from 3 locations. Last year it lent 515K books, movies and e-books and logged 257K visits.
What stands out about Tom Green County Library System
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind San Angelo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Angelo is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #391 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #278. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($49K–$82K) 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 →
257 community nonprofits are registered in San Angelo
2.6 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 (105 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of San Angelo’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 San Angelo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tom Green County Library System serves 119,057 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 78 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tom Green County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
515K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
102,706 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.
3 places to borrow in San Angelo
Tom Green County Library System, 33 W Beauregard Ave, San Angelo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tom Green County Library System branch.
New in San Angelo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Tom Green County Library System branches in San Angelo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Angelo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 53,669 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Tom Green County Library System serves 119,057 people in and around San Angelo, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just San Angelo.
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 San Angelo
Does San Angelo have a public library?
Yes. Tom Green County Library System, 33 W Beauregard Ave, serves 119,057 people in and around San Angelo (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tom Green County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is San Angelo’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 4.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is San Angelo’s civic life grade?
D San Angelo is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #391 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 San Angelo.
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.