Photo: brewbooks · CC BY-SA 2.0Calabasas’ library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Calabasas City Library serves Calabasas’s 22,742 residents. Last year it lent 222K books, movies and e-books and logged 102K visits.
The short version on Calabasas’s library
More library cards than residents
53,023 cards for 22,742 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Most of Calabasas’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Calabasas City Library offered 191 programs last year, 8.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 67% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Calabasas’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Calabasas is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #94 of 448 in California. Calabasas’ count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
175 community nonprofits are registered in Calabasas
7.7 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 (23 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Calabasas’ 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 Calabasas’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Calabasas City Library serves 22,742 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 117 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
51% of borrowing is digital
222K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 85K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
112,456 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Calabasas last year.
Find it
Calabasas City Library, 200 Civic Center Way, Calabasas.
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 Calabasas? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Calabasas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 53,023 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calabasas | Calabasas City Library fine-free | 9.8 | 37 | B+ |
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | D |
| Topanga | Topanga fine-free | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| Agoura Hills | Agoura Hills Library fine-free | — | 40 | A− |
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. Calabasas City 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 Calabasas
Does Calabasas have a public library?
Yes. Calabasas City Library, 200 Civic Center Way, serves Calabasas’ 22,742 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calabasas City 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 Calabasas’ library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Calabasas’ civic life grade?
B+ Calabasas is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #94 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 Calabasas.
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.