Photo: Johnyy0398 · CC BY-SA 4.0Zapata’s library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library serves 13,736 people in and around Zapata. Last year it lent 27K print books and media and logged 9,276 visits.
The short version on Zapata’s library
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
12,858 cards for 13,736 people, or 94%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library serves 13,736 people in and around Zapata, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Zapata’s civic life grade
Zapata isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Zapata
Zapata is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
1.6%
1.6% of Zapata’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 Zapata’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library serves 13,736 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
27K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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
Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library, 901 Kennedy St., Zapata.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library branch.
New in Zapata? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Zapata cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $149K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $444K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $149K 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 12,858 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapata | Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library | — | 48 | — unincorporated |
| Falcon Mesa | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Medina | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Falcon Lake Estates | 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.
- System-wide. Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library serves 13,736 people in and around Zapata, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Zapata.
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 Zapata
Does Zapata have a public library?
Yes. Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library, 901 Kennedy St., serves 13,736 people in and around Zapata (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Olga V Figueroa Zapata County 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 Zapata’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Zapata’s civic life grade?
Zapata isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Olga V Figueroa Zapata County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Zapata.
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.