Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0San Marcos’ library runs 34 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
San Marcos Public Library serves San Marcos’s 94,642 residents. Last year it lent 377K books, movies and e-books and logged 245K visits.
The short version on San Marcos’s library
Open about 67 hours a week
San Marcos Public Library is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 108 items go out. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
76,000 people came to the library’s 3,207 programs last year: 0.8 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
75% of the 3,207 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 627 were for children. 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.
What’s behind San Marcos’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, San Marcos is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #293 of 539 in Texas. San Marcos is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; San Marcos’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($38K–$64K) 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 →
251 community nonprofits are registered in San Marcos
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (78 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of San Marcos’ 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 Marcos’ 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 San Marcos last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
San Marcos Public Library serves 94,642 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 108 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
377K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 195K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
80,704 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
San Marcos Public Library, 625 E Hopkins St., San Marcos.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Marcos? 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 $2.69 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Marcos cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 29,397 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.
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 Marcos
Does San Marcos have a public library?
Yes. San Marcos Public Library, 625 E Hopkins St., serves San Marcos’ 94,642 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 67 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Marcos Public Library 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 Marcos’ library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is San Marcos’ civic life grade?
C− San Marcos is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #293 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 Marcos.
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.