Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Exeter’s library is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 95% of systems its size
Exeter’s library is the Exeter Library, a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which serves 345,185 people and lent 356K items last year.
What Exeter’s library is like
The Tulare County Free Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Tulare County Free Library system records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Exeter Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Today’s library there has 4,771 square feet. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Exeter’s library is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (345,185 people), not just the Exeter branch.
What’s behind Exeter’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Exeter is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #188 of 448 in California. Exeter is graded on two of the three inputs. Exeter’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
57 community nonprofits are registered in Exeter
5.6 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.7%
3.7% of Exeter’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 Exeter’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1990
Exeter Library, 230 E. Chestnut, Exeter.
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 Tulare County Free Library branch.
New in Exeter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Exeter Public Library
Exeter Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 10, 1990. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival. It was listed as part of California Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The Exeter Public Library is a Carnegie library located at 309 S. E St. in Exeter, California. The library was built in 1916 with a $5000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation; it was one of six Carnegie libraries built in Tulare County. Exeter's library program had been started in 1910 by the city Women's Club but lacked its own building prior to the construction of the Carnegie Library.
More about the building →Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tulare County Free Library serves 345,185 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tulare County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
356K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
107,625 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 27 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.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Exeter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.6M 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 26,103 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Exeter Library is one branch of Tulare County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 345,185 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 Exeter
Does Exeter have a public library?
Yes: Exeter Library, 230 E. Chestnut, is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which serves 345,185 people. The branch is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tulare County Free 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 Exeter’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Exeter’s civic life grade?
C Exeter is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #188 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 Exeter.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.