Photo: Dana Payne · CC BY-SA 3.0Castroville’s library is a branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, which lends less per resident than 85% of systems its size
Castroville’s library is the Castroville Branch Library, a branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, which serves 230,383 people and lent 440K items last year.
What stands out about Castroville Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Castroville’s civic life grade
Castroville isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Castroville
Castroville is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.2%
4.2% of Castroville’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 Castroville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Monterey County Free Libraries serves 230,383 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Monterey County Free Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
440K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
98,344 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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
Castroville Branch Library, 11160 Speegle St., Castroville.
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 Monterey County Free Libraries branch.
New in Castroville? 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 $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Castroville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M 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 107,839 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Castroville Branch Library is one branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 230,383 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 Castroville
Does Castroville have a public library?
Yes: Castroville Branch Library, 11160 Speegle St., is a branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, which serves 230,383 people. The branch is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Monterey County Free Libraries 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 Castroville’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Castroville’s civic life grade?
Castroville isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Monterey County Free Libraries, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Castroville.
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.