Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) · CC BY-SA 2.0Banning’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Banning Library District serves 34,146 people in and around Banning. Last year it lent 28K books, movies and e-books and logged 40K visits.
The short version on Banning’s library
Banning Library District is used less than most libraries its size
Banning Library District records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
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; Banning Library District serves 34,146 people in and around Banning, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Banning’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Banning is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #337 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Banning’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Banning
2.9 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 (47 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.8%
3.8% of Banning’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 Banning’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Banning Library District serves 34,146 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Banning Library District system. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
28K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,267 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Banning Library District, 21 W. Nicolet St., Banning.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Banning Library District branch.
New in Banning? 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 Banning cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $529K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 20,987 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beaumont | Beaumont Library District fine-free | 3.7 | 45 | D |
| Banning | Banning Library District fine-free | — | 52 | D |
| Cabazon | Cabazon Library fine-free | — | 40 | — unincorporated |
| Cherry Valley | 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. Banning Library District serves 34,146 people in and around Banning, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Banning.
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 Banning
Does Banning have a public library?
Yes. Banning Library District, 21 W. Nicolet St., serves 34,146 people in and around Banning (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Banning Library District 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 Banning’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Banning’s civic life grade?
D Banning is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #337 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 Banning.
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.