Photo: Mike · CC BY 2.0Crescent City’s library runs 25 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Del Norte County Library District serves 26,345 people in and around Crescent City. Last year it lent 27K print books and media and drew 1,737 people to its programs.
The short version on Crescent City’s library
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 667 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
California pays a big share
25% of the budget comes from the state, and 74% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Del Norte County Library District spends $13 per resident, less than 92% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Del Norte County Library District serves 26,345 people in and around Crescent City, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Crescent City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Crescent City is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #157 of 448 in California. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Crescent City is graded on two of the three inputs. Crescent City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Crescent City’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out. What the library did report is strong: 667 programs, 25 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for its size.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Crescent City
4.6 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Crescent City’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 Crescent City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Del Norte County Library District serves 26,345 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Del Norte County Library District 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.
Books and media off the shelf
27K 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 11 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
Del Norte County Library District, 190 Price Mall, Crescent City.
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 Del Norte County Library District branch.
New in Crescent City? 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 $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Crescent City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $337K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $423K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $337K 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 13,882 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crescent City | Del Norte County Library District fine-free | — | 46 | B− |
| Bertsch-Oceanview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Del Norte County Library District didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Del Norte County Library District serves 26,345 people in and around Crescent City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Crescent City.
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 Crescent City
Does Crescent City have a public library?
Yes. Del Norte County Library District, 190 Price Mall, serves 26,345 people in and around Crescent City (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Del Norte County Library District 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 Crescent City’s library?
It lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024 (print) and ran 667 programs that drew 1,737 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Crescent City’s civic life grade?
B− Crescent City is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #157 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 Crescent City.
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.