Photo: The Oaked Ridge · CC BY-SA 4.0Folsom’s library lends 4.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Folsom Public Library serves Folsom’s 88,023 residents. Last year it lent 495K books, movies and e-books and logged 199K visits.
What Folsom’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 653 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 98,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.2 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 72% of similar-size libraries. 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.
What’s behind Folsom’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Folsom is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #135 of 448 in California. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
295 community nonprofits are registered in Folsom
3.5 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 (55 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.2%
11.2% of Folsom’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 Folsom’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Folsom Public Library serves 88,023 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 262 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
495K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 98K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.2 times last year, on average.
81,609 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 10 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 Folsom last year.
Find it
Folsom Public Library, Georgia Murray Building, 411 Stafford St., Folsom.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Folsom? 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 $3.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Folsom cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 38,194 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Folsom | Folsom Public Library, Georgia Murray Building fine-free | 5.6 | 39 | B− |
| Orangevale | Orangevale Library fine-free | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Fair Oaks | Fair Oaks Library fine-free | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| El Dorado Hills | El Dorado Hills Library | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Granite Bay | Granite Bay Library | — | 38 | — 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Folsom
Does Folsom have a public library?
Yes. Folsom Public Library, 411 Stafford St., serves Folsom’s 88,023 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Folsom 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 Folsom’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Folsom’s civic life grade?
B− Folsom is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #135 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 Folsom.
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.