Photo: Djh57 · CC BY 3.0Coronado’s library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Coronado Public Library serves Coronado’s 21,589 residents. Last year it lent 345K books, movies and e-books and logged 361K visits.
What Coronado’s library is like
More library cards than residents
37,875 cards for 21,589 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 ↓
Coronado ranks 3rd in California for library use
Out of 116 California towns with a library of their own, Coronado comes 3rd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
Coronado uses its library more than almost any town its size
Coronado Public Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
37,000 people came to the library’s 1,003 programs last year: 1.7 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 37% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 31 items per child in Coronado last year. Kids & programs ↓
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 Coronado’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Coronado is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #51 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Coronado Public Library logged 16.7 visits per resident in FY2024, #49 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
147 community nonprofits are registered in Coronado
7.7 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 (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Coronado’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 Coronado’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 104 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Coronado Public Library serves 21,589 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
345K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 164K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
63,397 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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 Coronado last year.
Find it
Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave., Coronado.
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 Coronado? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Coronado cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.4M 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 37,875 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronado | Coronado Public Library fine-free | 16.0 | 64 | A− |
| San Diego | San Diego Central Library fine-free | 4.4 | 50 | C+ |
| Imperial Beach | Imperial Beach Library fine-free | — | 45 | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Coronado’s 361,127 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Coronado
Does Coronado have a public library?
Yes. Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave., serves Coronado’s 21,589 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coronado 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 Coronado’s library?
It logged 16.7 visits and lent 16.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Coronado’s civic life grade?
A− Coronado is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 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 Coronado.
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.