Photo: Jey0h · CC BY 3.0Alhambra’s library runs 6.4 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Alhambra Civic Center Library serves Alhambra’s 81,811 residents. Last year it lent 321K books, movies and e-books and logged 198K visits.
Alhambra’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
94,113 cards for 81,811 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 ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Alhambra Civic Center Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Four of the five libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 68% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 64% of similar-size libraries. 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 Alhambra’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Alhambra is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #255 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) 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 →
198 community nonprofits are registered in Alhambra
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (93 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 41 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Alhambra’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 Alhambra’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Alhambra Civic Center Library serves 81,811 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 102 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
321K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 111K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
39,905 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Alhambra last year.
Find it
Alhambra Public Library, 101 S. First St., Alhambra.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Alhambra? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alhambra cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 94,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Alhambra ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Pasadena | South Pasadena Public Library fine-free | 14.3 | 55 | A− |
| San Marino | Crowell Public Library | 11.0 | 59 | A |
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | D |
| Alhambra | Alhambra Public Library | 3.9 | 60 | C− |
| Monterey Park | Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library fine-free | 3.2 | 33 | C− |
| San Gabriel | San Gabriel Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
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 Alhambra
Does Alhambra have a public library?
Yes. Alhambra Civic Center Library, 101 S. First St., serves Alhambra’s 81,811 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alhambra Civic Center 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 Alhambra’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Alhambra’s civic life grade?
C− Alhambra is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #255 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 Alhambra.
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.