Photo: Bruce Fingerhood from Springfield, Oregon, US · CC BY 2.0Alturas’ library runs 8.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Modoc County Library serves 8,484 people in and around Alturas. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and drew 745 people to its programs.
What Alturas’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
93% of the 70 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Modoc County Library offered 70 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
26% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 70%. 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; Modoc County Library serves 8,484 people in and around Alturas, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Alturas’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Alturas is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #77 of 448 in California. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Alturas is graded on two of the three inputs. Alturas’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Alturas’ 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Alturas
16.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Alturas’ 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 Alturas’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Modoc County Library serves 8,484 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Modoc County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,938 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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
Modoc County Library, 212 W. Third St., Alturas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Modoc County Library branch.
New in Alturas? 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 Alturas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $272K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $371K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $272K 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 3,673 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alturas | Modoc County Library | — | 38 | A− |
| Daphnedale Park | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Modoc County Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Modoc County Library serves 8,484 people in and around Alturas, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Alturas.
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 Alturas
Does Alturas have a public library?
Yes. Modoc County Library, 212 W. Third St., serves 8,484 people in and around Alturas (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Modoc County 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 Alturas’ library?
It lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 70 programs that drew 745 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Alturas’ civic life grade?
A− Alturas is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #77 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 Alturas.
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.