Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0Alameda’s library runs 52 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Alameda Free Library serves Alameda’s 78,071 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 730K books, movies and e-books and logged 187K visits.
The short version on Alameda’s library
More library cards than residents
84,167 cards for 78,071 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Alameda Free Library ran 4,058 programs last year, about 78 a week. That’s 52 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 4,058 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Alameda Free Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 47,500 square feet. The buildings ↓
Three places to borrow in Alameda
Alameda Free Library runs three 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 Alameda’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Alameda is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #99 of 448 in California. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
356 community nonprofits are registered in Alameda
4.6 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 (66 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.0%
11.0% of Alameda’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical California 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 Alameda’s residents live; 2022.
About 71 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 Alameda last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Alameda Free Library serves 78,071 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
730K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 192K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
142,171 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St., Alameda.
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 Alameda? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Alameda Free Library
Alameda Free Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1982. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Classical.
The Alameda Free Library is the city library of Alameda, California.
More about the building →Other libraries in Alameda
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alameda cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 84,167 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | San Francisco Main Library fine-free | 16.6 | 58 | A− |
| Alameda | Alameda Free Library fine-free | 9.3 | 54 | B+ |
| Oakland | Oakland Main Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| Brisbane | Brisbane Library fine-free | — | 57 | B+ |
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 Alameda
Does Alameda have a public library?
Yes. Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St., serves Alameda’s 78,071 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alameda Free 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 Alameda’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 9.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Alameda’s civic life grade?
B+ Alameda is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #99 of 448 in California. 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 Alameda.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.