Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Schertz’s library runs 5.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Schertz Public Library serves 124,507 people in and around Schertz. Last year it lent 362K books, movies and e-books and logged 223K visits.
Schertz’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Schertz Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Schertz Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 50% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Schertz Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). 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; Schertz Public Library serves 124,507 people in and around Schertz, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Schertz’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Schertz is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #238 of 539 in Texas. Schertz is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Schertz’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($75K–$125K) 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 →
114 community nonprofits are registered in Schertz
2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (36 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Schertz’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 Schertz’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Schertz Public Library serves 124,507 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 118 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Schertz Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
362K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
51,754 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
Find it
Schertz Public Library, 798 Schertz Pkwy, Schertz.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Schertz Public Library branch.
New in Schertz? 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 $4.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Schertz cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 30,788 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Braunfels | New Braunfels Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 65 | C |
| Garden Ridge | City of Garden Ridge Library | 5.9 | 38 | B− |
| San Antonio | San Antonio Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 46 | D |
| Universal City | Universal City Public Library fine-free | 1.8 | 40 | C− |
| Converse | Converse Public Library | 1.3 | 42 | D |
| Schertz | Schertz Public Library | — | 59 | C |
| Cibolo | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Randolph AFB | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Selma | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- System-wide. Schertz Public Library serves 124,507 people in and around Schertz, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Schertz.
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 Schertz
Does Schertz have a public library?
Yes. Schertz Public Library, 798 Schertz Pkwy, serves 124,507 people in and around Schertz (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Schertz 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 Schertz’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Schertz’s civic life grade?
C Schertz is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #238 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 Schertz.
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.