Church of the Guardian Angel · Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Wallis’ library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Austin County Library System serves 12,974 people in and around Wallis. Last year it lent 5,713 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,258 visits.
What Wallis’s library is like
Austin County Library System is used less than most libraries its size
Austin County Library System records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Austin County Library System offered 58 programs last year, 4.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Austin County Library System spends $10 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. 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; Austin County Library System serves 12,974 people in and around Wallis, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Wallis’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Wallis is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Wallis is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Wallis’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$54K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Wallis
3.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Wallis’ 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 Wallis’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Austin County Library System serves 12,974 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Austin County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5,713 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
58 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Austin County Library System, 6730 Railroad St., Wallis.
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 Wallis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $136K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $91K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $136K 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 4,915 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Austin County Library System serves 12,974 people in and around Wallis, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Wallis.
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 Wallis
Does Wallis have a public library?
Yes. Austin County Library System, 6730 Railroad St., serves 12,974 people in and around Wallis (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Austin County Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Wallis’ library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Wallis’ civic life grade?
C+ Wallis is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Wallis.
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.