Photo: Javelinca · CC BY-SA 4.0Burlingame’s library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Burlingame Public Library serves Burlingame’s 37,924 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 643K books, movies and e-books and logged 290K visits.
Burlingame’s library, in brief
Burlingame uses its library more than almost any town its size
Burlingame Public Library logs 7.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 70% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 55 items per child in Burlingame last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in California for kids’ borrowing
Burlingame ranks #7 of 117 California towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Burlingame invests in its library
Burlingame Public Library spends $167 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
A place to get online
Burlingame Public Library logs about 1,765 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 69 public computers. That’s 17 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Burlingame’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Burlingame is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #68 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
198 community nonprofits are registered in Burlingame
6.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.6%
6.6% of Burlingame’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 Burlingame’s residents live; 2022.
About 11 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 Burlingame last year.
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.
Burlingame Public Library serves 37,924 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 139 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
643K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 221K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
105,772 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Burlingame
Burlingame Main Library, 480 Primrose Road, Burlingame.
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 Burlingame? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Burlingame
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.74 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burlingame cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 31,279 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlingame | Burlingame Main Library fine-free | 17.0 | 59 | A− |
| San Mateo | San Mateo Public Library fine-free | 9.8 | 60 | C |
| Millbrae | Millbrae Library fine-free | — | 57 | C+ |
| Hillsborough | None of its own | — | — | 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 Burlingame
Does Burlingame have a public library?
Yes. Burlingame Public Library, 480 Primrose Road, serves Burlingame’s 37,924 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Burlingame 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 Burlingame’s library?
It logged 7.6 visits and lent 17.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Burlingame’s civic life grade?
A− Burlingame is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #68 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 Burlingame.
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.