Photo: Tony the Marine · CC BY-SA 3.0Glendale’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Glendale Public Library serves Glendale’s 260,878 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 1.3M books, movies and e-books and logged 465K visits.
Glendale’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 2,820 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Four places to borrow in Glendale
Glendale Public 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 Glendale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Glendale is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns, #60 of 68 in Arizona. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #336. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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 →
514 community nonprofits are registered in Glendale
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 (212 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 28 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.8%
3.8% of Glendale’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona 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 Glendale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Glendale Public Library serves 260,878 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 129 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 391K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
304,084 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 41 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 Glendale last year.
4 places to borrow in Glendale
Glendale Main Library, 5959 W Brown St., Glendale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Glendale? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Glendale
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Glendale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $19M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.6M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 117,060 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Glendale ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix | Burton Barr Central Library fine-free | 5.9 | 58 | D |
| Peoria | Peoria Public Library System fine-free | 5.1 | 50 | D |
| Glendale | Glendale Main Library fine-free | 4.9 | 48 | D |
| El Mirage | El Mirage Branch Library fine-free | — | 50 | D− |
| Litchfield Park | Litchfield Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 51 | C |
| Goodyear | Goodyear Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | D |
| Surprise | Northwest Regional Library fine-free | — | — | D |
| Citrus Park | 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 Glendale
Does Glendale have a public library?
Yes. Glendale Public Library, 5959 W Brown St., serves Glendale’s 260,878 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Glendale Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Glendale’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Glendale’s civic life grade?
D Glendale is ahead of 6% of U.S. towns on civic life, #60 of 68 in Arizona. 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 Glendale.
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.