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Hidalgo County Library System reports more than 1,000,000 visits and 500,000 active users
Summary
Library leaders told the court the countywide system of 14 libraries holds over 1,000,000 physical items, anticipates more than 1,000,000 annual visits and serves over 500,000 active registered users; presenters emphasized digital access, cloud-library growth and community programming.
Library system officials presented the Hidalgo County Library System 2025 annual state report, highlighting systemwide holdings and public usage. "Our system embodies 1 county, 14 public libraries," the presenter said, and noted the collective collection exceeds 1,000,000 items and that the system anticipates over 1,000,000 physical items and visits annually.
Marisol Vidales, identified in the presentation as a library director and vice chair of the system, said the system had more than 500,000 active registered users after purging accounts inactive for five years. Jaime de Guirino reported that the cloud digital collection logged more than 83,000 e-book and audiobook checkouts in 2025, with audiobooks comprising roughly half of digital checkouts; the presenters said cloud-library usage added thousands of new patrons in the year.
Speakers described community programming (story times, computer classes, workforce and digital-literacy sessions) and outreach efforts at branch locations. Presenters said they continue to expand digital collections and noted a need for improved outreach so residents who would benefit are aware of library services.
