Forsgard Homestead · Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0Waco’s library runs 3.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Waco-Mclennan County Library serves Waco’s 224,116 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 723K books, movies and e-books and logged 303K visits.
What Waco’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Waco-Mclennan County Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Waco-Mclennan County Library offered 760 programs last year, 3.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 760 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Four places to borrow in Waco
Waco-Mclennan County Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Waco’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Waco is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns, #313 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #210. Waco is graded on two of the three inputs. Waco’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) 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 →
567 community nonprofits are registered in Waco
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (207 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 20 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.9%
3.9% of Waco’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 Waco’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Waco-Mclennan County Library serves 224,116 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
723K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 364K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
123,932 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 Waco last year.
4 places to borrow in Waco
Waco-Mclennan County Library, 1717 Austin Ave, Waco.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Waco? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Waco
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Waco cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.4M 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 65,855 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Waco ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hewitt | Hewitt Public Library | 4.6 | 49 | D |
| Waco | Waco-Mclennan County Library | 3.2 | 58 | C− |
| McGregor | Mcginley Memorial Public Library fine-free | 0.7 | 19 | D |
| Woodway | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Bellmead | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Robinson | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Lacy-Lakeview | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| China Spring | 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 Waco
Does Waco have a public library?
Yes. Waco-Mclennan County Library, 1717 Austin Ave, serves Waco’s 224,116 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Waco-Mclennan County 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 Waco’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Waco’s civic life grade?
C− Waco is ahead of 20% of U.S. towns on civic life, #313 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 Waco.
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.