USCGC STORIS (cutter) · Photo: United States Coast Guard, PA1 Kurt Fredrickson · Public domainBenicia’s library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Benicia Public Library serves Benicia’s 26,033 residents. Last year it lent 324K books, movies and e-books and logged 141K visits.
What Benicia’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Benicia last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 37% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
People come to Benicia Public Library a lot
Benicia Public Library logs 5.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Benicia invests in its library
Benicia Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Benicia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Benicia is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #80 of 448 in California. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
125 community nonprofits are registered in Benicia
4.7 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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.1%
8.1% of Benicia’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 Benicia’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
324K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 98K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
121,081 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Benicia Public Library serves 26,033 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 6 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 Benicia last year.
Find it
Benicia Public Library, 150 E. L St., Benicia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Benicia? 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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Benicia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 15,587 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benicia | Benicia Public Library fine-free | 12.4 | 60 | A− |
| Vallejo | John F. Kennedy Library fine-free | — | 63 | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Benicia
Does Benicia have a public library?
Yes. Benicia Public Library, 150 E. L St., serves Benicia’s 26,033 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benicia Public 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 Benicia’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 12.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Benicia’s civic life grade?
A− Benicia is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Benicia.
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.