Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Arbuckle’s library is a branch of Colusa County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 63% of systems its size
Arbuckle’s library is the Arbuckle Branch, a branch of Colusa County Free Library, which serves 21,743 people and lent 72K items last year.
What Arbuckle’s library is like
Open only about 14 hours a week
The Arbuckle branch keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 944 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Arbuckle’s library is a branch of Colusa County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (21,743 people), not just the Arbuckle branch.
What’s behind Arbuckle’s civic life grade
Arbuckle isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Colusa County Free Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Arbuckle
Arbuckle is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
3.8%
3.8% of Arbuckle’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 Arbuckle’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Colusa County Free Library serves 21,743 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Colusa County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
72K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,102 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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
Arbuckle Branch, 610 King St., Arbuckle.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Colusa County Free Library branch.
New in Arbuckle? 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 $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arbuckle cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $993K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $993K 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 5,286 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Arbuckle Branch is one branch of Colusa County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 21,743 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 Arbuckle
Does Arbuckle have a public library?
Yes: Arbuckle Branch, 610 King St., is a branch of Colusa County Free Library, which serves 21,743 people. The branch is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Colusa County 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 Arbuckle’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Arbuckle’s civic life grade?
Arbuckle isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Colusa County Free Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Arbuckle.
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.