El Segundo’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
El Segundo Public Library serves El Segundo’s 16,964 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 172K books, movies and e-books and logged 272K visits.
The short version on El Segundo’s library
El Segundo uses its library more than almost any town its size
El Segundo Public Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in El Segundo last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in California for library use
El Segundo ranks #4 of 116 California towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 16 visits per resident, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
El Segundo invests in its library
El Segundo Public Library spends $143 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Five places to borrow in El Segundo
El Segundo Public Library runs five locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 El Segundo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, El Segundo is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #49 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
El Segundo Public Library logged 16.0 visits per resident in FY2024, #56 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 →
165 community nonprofits are registered in El Segundo
9.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of El Segundo’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 El Segundo’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
El Segundo Public Library serves 16,964 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
172K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 98K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
20,755 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 El Segundo last year.
5 places to borrow in El Segundo
El Segundo Public Library, 111 W. Mariposa Ave., El Segundo.
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 El Segundo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in El Segundo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average El Segundo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 12,780 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Segundo | El Segundo Public Library fine-free | 10.1 | 60 | A |
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | D |
| Manhattan Beach | Manhattan Beach Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Hawthorne | Hawthorne Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Del Aire | 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.
- Visits count everyone. El Segundo’s 271,996 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 El Segundo
Does El Segundo have a public library?
Yes. El Segundo Public Library, 111 W. Mariposa Ave., serves El Segundo’s 16,964 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is El Segundo 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 El Segundo’s library?
It logged 16.0 visits and lent 10.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is El Segundo’s civic life grade?
A El Segundo is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 El Segundo.
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.