Photo: Oleg Alexandrov · CC BY-SA 3.0Calistoga’s library is a branch of Napa County Library, which lends more per resident than 72% of systems its size
Calistoga’s library is the Calistoga Public Library, a branch of Napa County Library, which serves 129,715 people and lent 666K items last year.
What stands out about Calistoga Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Calistoga’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Calistoga is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #143 of 448 in California. Calistoga is graded on two of the three inputs. Calistoga’s 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Calistoga
7.2 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Calistoga’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 Calistoga’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Calistoga cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 42,346 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Napa County Library serves 129,715 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Napa County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
666K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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
Calistoga Public Library, 1108 Myrtle St., Calistoga.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Napa County Library branch.
New in Calistoga? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Calistoga Public Library is one branch of Napa County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 129,715 people it serves.
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 Calistoga
Does Calistoga have a public library?
Yes: Calistoga Public Library, 1108 Myrtle St., is a branch of Napa County Library, which serves 129,715 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Napa County 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 Calistoga’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 5.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Calistoga’s civic life grade?
B− Calistoga is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #143 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 Calistoga.
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.