Photo: Etherealsmoke · CC BY-SA 4.0Fresno’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Fresno County Public Library serves 993,976 people in and around Fresno from 11 locations. Last year it lent 3.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.1M visits.
Fresno’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Fresno County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
11 branches in Fresno
Fresno has 11 branches of the Fresno County Public Library, which serves 993,976 people in and around Fresno. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; Fresno County Public Library serves 993,976 people in and around Fresno, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Fresno’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fresno is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #316 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #312. Fresno is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fresno’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($53K–$89K) 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 →
1,534 community nonprofits are registered in Fresno
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (542 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 79 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.4%
3.4% of Fresno’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 Fresno’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Fresno County Public Library serves 993,976 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Fresno County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
3.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,252,318 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 48 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.
12 places to borrow in Fresno
Central Library, 2420 Mariposa St., Fresno.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Fresno County Public Library branch.
New in Fresno? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Fresno County Public Library branches in Fresno
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fresno cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $35M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35M 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 167,355 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno | Central Library | — | 55 | D |
| Clovis | Clovis Regional Library | — | 66 | D |
| Sunnyside | Sunnyside Branch Library | — | 66 | — unincorporated |
| Calwa | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Tarpey Village | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| West Park | 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.
- System-wide. Fresno County Public Library serves 993,976 people in and around Fresno, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Fresno.
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 Fresno
Does Fresno have a public library?
Yes. Fresno County Public Library, 2420 Mariposa St., serves 993,976 people in and around Fresno (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fresno County Public 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 Fresno’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fresno’s civic life grade?
D Fresno is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #316 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 Fresno.
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.