Photo: pedrik · CC BY 2.0Berkeley’s library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Berkeley Public Library serves Berkeley’s 125,327 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 2.4M books, movies and e-books and logged 698K visits.
What Berkeley’s library is like
More library cards than residents
157,190 cards for 125,327 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Berkeley uses its library more than almost any town its size
Berkeley Public Library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in California for borrowing
Berkeley ranks #7 of 117 California towns with a library of their own for items borrowed per resident. Print borrowing alone runs 11 items per resident, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Berkeley Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. Today’s library there has 102,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Berkeley invests in its library
Berkeley Public Library spends $189 per resident a year, about five times the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) 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 Berkeley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Berkeley is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #17 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #2. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
958 community nonprofits are registered in Berkeley
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (171 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 56 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.4%
13.4% of Berkeley’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 Berkeley’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 198 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Berkeley Public Library serves 125,327 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
40% of borrowing is digital
2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 527K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
962,104 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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 Berkeley last year.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Berkeley Public Library - Central, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley.
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 Berkeley? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Berkeley Public Library
Berkeley Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1982. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Zig Zag Moderne.
More about the building →Other libraries in Berkeley
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berkeley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $24M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $39M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $24M 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 157,190 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | Berkeley Public Library - Central fine-free | 19.1 | 45 | A+ |
| San Francisco | San Francisco Main Library fine-free | 16.6 | 58 | A− |
| Oakland | Oakland Main Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| Albany | Albany Library fine-free | — | 39 | A− |
| Kensington | Kensington Library fine-free | — | 40 | — unincorporated |
| Emeryville | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Berkeley Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Berkeley
Does Berkeley have a public library?
Yes. Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., serves Berkeley’s 125,327 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Berkeley 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 Berkeley’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 19.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Berkeley’s civic life grade?
A+ Berkeley is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Berkeley.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.