Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0Durham’s library is a branch of Butte County Library, which lends less per resident than 67% of systems its size
Durham’s library is the Durham Branch, a branch of Butte County Library, which serves 205,928 people and lent 640K items last year.
What stands out about Durham Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Durham’s civic life grade
Durham 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 Butte County Library, 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 Durham
Durham is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
14.0%
14.0% of Durham’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 Durham’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Butte County Library serves 205,928 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Butte County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
640K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
165,280 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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
Durham Branch, 2545 Durham Dayton Hwy, Durham.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Butte County Library branch.
New in Durham? 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 $2.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Durham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.2M 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 122,176 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | Durham Branch | — | 21 | — unincorporated |
| Chico | Chico Branch | — | 36 | A− |
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.
- System-wide. Durham Branch is one branch of Butte County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 205,928 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 Durham
Does Durham have a public library?
Yes: Durham Branch, 2545 Durham Dayton Hwy, is a branch of Butte County Library, which serves 205,928 people. The branch is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Butte 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 Durham’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Durham’s civic life grade?
Durham 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 Butte County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Durham.
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.