Photo: CrispyCream27 · CC BY-SA 4.0Anaheim’s library runs 16 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Anaheim Public Library serves Anaheim’s 340,160 residents from 8 locations. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 607K visits.
Anaheim’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone in Anaheim has a card
317,524 cards for 340,160 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 5,372 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 12 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Anaheim Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Six of the seven libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
175,000 people came to the library’s 5,372 programs last year: 0.5 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Eight places to borrow in Anaheim
Anaheim Public Library runs eight 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 Anaheim’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Anaheim is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #354 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #341. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($71K–$119K) 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 →
634 community nonprofits are registered in Anaheim
1.8 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 (409 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 78 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.5%
3.5% of Anaheim’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 Anaheim’s residents live; 2022.
About 80 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 Anaheim last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Anaheim Public Library serves 340,160 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Anaheim Public Library - Central
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 542K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
250,670 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 places to borrow in Anaheim
Anaheim Public Library - Central, 500 W. Broadway, Anaheim.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Anaheim? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Anaheim
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anaheim cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $16M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16M 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 317,524 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Anaheim ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yorba Linda | Yorba Linda Public Library | 24.8 | 58 | B |
| Placentia | Placentia Library District fine-free | 6.4 | 61 | C− |
| Orange | Orange Public Library & History Center fine-free | 4.7 | 51 | C− |
| Anaheim | Anaheim Public Library - Central | 3.1 | 43 | D− |
| Fullerton | Fullerton Main Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | D |
| Buena Park | Buena Park Library District fine-free | 2.6 | 52 | D− |
| Stanton | Stanton Branch Library fine-free | — | 44 | D− |
| Garden Grove | Garden Grove Main Library fine-free | — | 60 | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Anaheim
Does Anaheim have a public library?
Yes. Anaheim Public Library, 500 W. Broadway, serves Anaheim’s 340,160 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Anaheim Public 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 Anaheim’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Anaheim’s civic life grade?
D− Anaheim is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #354 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 Anaheim.
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.