Photo: Bureau of Land Management California · Public domainDesert Center’s library is a branch of Riverside County Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Desert Center’s library is the Lake Tamarisk Library, a branch of Riverside County Library System, which serves 1,381,045 people and lent 3M items last year.
Desert Center’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Riverside County Library System sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Desert Center branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
California pays a big share
32% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 64% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
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; Desert Center’s library is a branch of Riverside County Library System, so they cover the whole system (1,381,045 people), not just the Desert Center branch.
What’s behind Desert Center’s civic life grade
Desert Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Riverside County Library System serves 1,381,045 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Riverside County Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Riverside County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
343,932 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 88 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
Lake Tamarisk Library, 43880 Lake Tamarisk Dr., Desert Center.
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 Riverside County Library System branch.
New in Desert Center? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Desert Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $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 387,781 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lake Tamarisk Library is one branch of Riverside County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,381,045 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 Desert Center
Does Desert Center have a public library?
Yes: Lake Tamarisk Library, 43880 Lake Tamarisk Dr., is a branch of Riverside County Library System, which serves 1,381,045 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riverside County Library System 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 Desert Center’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Desert Center’s civic life grade?
Desert Center isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Desert Center.
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.