Photo: Eggsy-B · CC BY-SA 4.0Clearlake’s library is a branch of Lake County Library, which lends less per resident than 68% of systems its size
Clearlake’s library is the Redbud Library, a branch of Lake County Library, which serves 67,001 people and lent 232K items last year.
What stands out about Redbud Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Clearlake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Clearlake is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #295 of 448 in California. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Clearlake is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Clearlake’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Clearlake’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$52K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Clearlake
2.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Clearlake’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 Clearlake’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lake County Library serves 67,001 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Lake County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lake County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
232K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,687 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Rd., Clearlake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lake County Library branch.
New in Clearlake? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Clearlake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 28,984 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearlake | Redbud Library | — | 35 | D |
| Lower Lake | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Lake County Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Redbud Library is one branch of Lake County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 67,001 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 Clearlake
Does Clearlake have a public library?
Yes: Redbud Library, 14785 Burns Valley Rd., is a branch of Lake County Library, which serves 67,001 people. The branch is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Clearlake’s library?
It lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 829 programs that drew 8,401 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Clearlake’s civic life grade?
D Clearlake is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #295 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 Clearlake.
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.