Photo: User:Geographer · CC BY 2.5Fullerton’s library runs 1.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Fullerton Public Library serves Fullerton’s 140,311 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 407K books, movies and e-books and logged 229K visits.
What Fullerton’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Fullerton Public Library offered 227 programs last year, 1.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Fullerton Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 70% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 53% 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 Fullerton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fullerton is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #303 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #300. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Fullerton’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($78K–$130K) 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 →
379 community nonprofits are registered in Fullerton
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (258 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 55 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Fullerton’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 Fullerton’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.
Fullerton Public Library serves 140,311 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 198 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
407K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 160K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
108,603 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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 Fullerton last year.
2 places to borrow in Fullerton
Fullerton Main Library, 353 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fullerton
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fullerton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.4M 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 46,341 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Fullerton ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placentia | Placentia Library District fine-free | 6.4 | 61 | C− |
| Anaheim | Anaheim Public Library - Central | 3.1 | 43 | D− |
| Fullerton | Fullerton Main Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | D |
| Buena Park | Buena Park Library District fine-free | 2.6 | 52 | D− |
| Brea | Brea Branch Library fine-free | — | 42 | C− |
| La Habra | La Habra Branch Library fine-free | — | — | D |
| La Mirada | La Mirada Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
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 Fullerton
Does Fullerton have a public library?
Yes. Fullerton Public Library, 353 W. Commonwealth Ave., serves Fullerton’s 140,311 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fullerton Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fullerton’s library?
It logged 1.6 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Fullerton’s civic life grade?
D Fullerton is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #303 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 Fullerton.
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.