San Benito’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
San Benito Public Library serves San Benito’s 33,452 residents. Last year it lent 8,228 books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
The short version on San Benito’s library
More library cards than residents
41,004 cards for 33,452 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
San Benito Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
San Benito Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
57% of the 274 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 115 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
San Benito Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
San Benito Public Library holds 45,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. What people borrow ↓
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 San Benito’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, San Benito has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. San Benito is graded on two of the three inputs. San Benito’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
San Benito Public Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($33K–$55K) 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 →
23 community nonprofits are registered in San Benito
0.9 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.8%
1.8% of San Benito’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 Benito’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
San Benito Public Library serves 33,452 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,228 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,947 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 San Benito last year.
Find it
San Benito Public Library, 101 W Rose St., San Benito.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Benito? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Benito cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $410K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $143K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $410K 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 41,004 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
San Benito ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlingen | Harlingen Public Library fine-free | 2.6 | 57 | D |
| Brownsville | Brownsville Public Library | 1.3 | 65 | D− |
| San Benito | San Benito Public Library | 0.2 | 44 | D− |
| El Camino Angosto | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| La Paloma | 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 San Benito
Does San Benito have a public library?
Yes. San Benito Public Library, 101 W Rose St., serves San Benito’s 33,452 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Benito 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 San Benito’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is San Benito’s civic life grade?
D− San Benito has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Benito.
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.