Photo: Jonmallard · CC BY-SA 4.0Anderson’s library is a branch of Shasta Public Libraries, which lends less per resident than 62% of systems its size
Anderson’s library is the Anderson Library, a branch of Shasta Public Libraries, which serves 179,195 people and lent 597K items last year.
What stands out about Anderson Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Anderson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Anderson is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #126 of 448 in California. Anderson is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Anderson’s count of community nonprofits pulls 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Anderson
2.1 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.3%
13.3% of Anderson’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 Anderson’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Shasta Public Libraries serves 179,195 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 88 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shasta Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. 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
597K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
139,013 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 kids’ programs 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
Anderson Library, 3200 W. Center St., Anderson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shasta Public Libraries branch.
New in Anderson? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Anderson cardholder borrows.
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 52,324 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Anderson Library is one branch of Shasta Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 179,195 people it serves.
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 Anderson
Does Anderson have a public library?
Yes: Anderson Library, 3200 W. Center St., is a branch of Shasta Public Libraries, which serves 179,195 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shasta Public Libraries 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 Anderson’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Anderson’s civic life grade?
B Anderson is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Anderson.
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.