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Foresthill Library · part of Placer County Library

Foresthill’s library is a branch of Placer County Library, which lends more per resident than 64% of systems its size

Foresthill’s library is the Foresthill Library, a branch of Placer County Library, which serves 198,683 people and lent 1.1M items last year.

24580 Main St., Foresthill 95631 · about 29 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: unincorporated places have too few inputs
Borrowed a year
1.1M
5.6 per resident
Visits a year
283K
1.4 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,180
about 23 a week · 33K attended
Cardholders
46%
91,343 cards
Open
29 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Foresthill Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Foresthill’s civic life grade

Foresthill 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 Placer County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Foresthill’s overall grade.

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 →

Places to belong

Volunteering in Foresthill

Foresthill is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.

Volunteering

9.9%

9.9% of Foresthill’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 Foresthill’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 77%
Borrowing per resident 4.3 print items · typical 3.2Higher than 64%
Digital borrowing 1.3 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 52%
Kids’ borrowing 1.9 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 58%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 68%
Programs offered 5.9 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 75%
Cardholders 46% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 61%
Spending $47 per resident · typical $36Higher than 64%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Placer County Library serves 198,683 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Placer County Library system. The library’s own count.

283K
visits
1.4 per resident
1.1M
loans, print + digital
5.6 per resident
1,180
programs & events
33K attended
91K
library cards
46% of people served
Every open hour91items borrowed
Every week630people at a program
Every week5,435visits
56 staff (full-time equivalent)40 public computers
What people borrow

Mostly books and media off the shelf

1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

1.1Mloans
Books & media (adults) 43%Kids’ books & media 33%E-books, audio & streaming 24%
From your couch

264,220 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 19 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Foresthill →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5884
Ages 6–1179
Teens9
Adults208
All ages0
Little ones
17

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

374K
kids’ books & media borrowed
33K
people at programs
1,180
programs
The building

Find it

Foresthill Library, 24580 Main St., Foresthill.

29
hours open a week
2,195
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Placer County Library branch.

New in Foresthill? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.81 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Foresthill cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$47 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.3M.

Local taxes 96%State 0%Gifts & other 4%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.3M 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 91,343 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Foresthill Library is one branch of Placer County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 198,683 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 Foresthill

Does Foresthill have a public library?

Yes: Foresthill Library, 24580 Main St., is a branch of Placer County Library, which serves 198,683 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Placer 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 Foresthill’s library?

It logged 1.4 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Foresthill’s civic life grade?

Foresthill 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 Placer County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.

Book talk

Reading, story times and the library in Foresthill.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.