Photo: Satxra · CC BY-SA 4.0Weslaco’s library logs 3.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library serves Weslaco’s 64,362 residents. Last year it lent 35K print books and media and logged 250K visits.
Weslaco’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 74% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 4%. A year at the library ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library holds 100,000 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 Weslaco’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Weslaco is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #481 of 539 in Texas. Weslaco is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Weslaco’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library spends $14 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$74K) 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 →
85 community nonprofits are registered in Weslaco
2.0 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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.9%
1.9% of Weslaco’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 Weslaco’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library serves 64,362 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 100K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Weslaco last year.
Find it
Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library, 525 S Kansas Ave, Weslaco.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Weslaco? 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 Weslaco cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $888K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $741K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $888K 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 46,106 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | Dr Hector P Garcia Memorial Library | 0.7 | 45 | D− |
| Weslaco | Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library | 0.5 | 66 | D− |
| Llano Grande | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Midway South | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Midway North | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Mila Doce | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Weslaco
Does Weslaco have a public library?
Yes. Mayor Joe V Sanchez Public Library, 525 S Kansas Ave, serves Weslaco’s 64,362 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mayor Joe V Sanchez 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 Weslaco’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 0.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Weslaco’s civic life grade?
D− Weslaco is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #481 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 Weslaco.
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.