Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Bakersfield’s library is a branch of Kern County Library, which lends less per resident than 94% of systems its size
Bakersfield’s library is the Beale Memorial Library, a branch of Kern County Library, which serves 888,074 people and lent 982K items last year.
The short version on Bakersfield’s library
The Kern County Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Kern County Library system records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 15,230 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 38 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Kern County Library system spends $12 per resident, less than 96% of similar-size libraries (typical: $36). What your card is worth ↓
Six branches in Bakersfield
Bakersfield has six branches of the Kern County Library, which serves 888,074 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. 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; Bakersfield’s library is a branch of Kern County Library, so they cover the whole system (888,074 people), not just the Bakersfield branch.
What’s behind Bakersfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bakersfield is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #280 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #274. Bakersfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Bakersfield’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Kern County Library spends $12 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$101K) 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 →
983 community nonprofits are registered in Bakersfield
2.4 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 (421 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 44 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Bakersfield’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 Bakersfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Kern County Library serves 888,074 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 43 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kern County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
982K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
229,126 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 207 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.
7 places to borrow in Bakersfield
Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kern County Library branch.
New in Bakersfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Kern County Library branches in Bakersfield
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bakersfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 82,211 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | Beale Memorial Library | — | 36 | D |
| Oildale | Rathbun Branch Library | — | 20 | — unincorporated |
| Rosedale | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Greenacres | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Niles | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| La Cresta | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Bakersfield | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Potomac Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Pumpkin Center | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greenfield | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Fairfax | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Beale Memorial Library is one branch of Kern County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 888,074 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 Bakersfield
Does Bakersfield have a public library?
Yes: Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun Avenue, is a branch of Kern County Library, which serves 888,074 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kern 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 Bakersfield’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bakersfield’s civic life grade?
D Bakersfield is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #280 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 Bakersfield.
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.