Photo: Mercurywoodrose · CC BY-SA 3.0Hayward’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Hayward Public Library serves Hayward’s 159,770 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 457K books, movies and e-books and logged 364K visits.
What Hayward’s library is like
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Hayward Public Library ran 5,316 programs last year, about 102 a week. That’s 33 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 73,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
167,787 cards for 159,770 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 56% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
81% of the 5,316 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 660 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Hayward’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hayward is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #337 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #322. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Hayward’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($85K–$142K) 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 →
273 community nonprofits are registered in Hayward
1.7 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 (156 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 35 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.5%
3.5% of Hayward’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 Hayward’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 Hayward last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hayward Public Library serves 159,770 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
457K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 167K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
117,281 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Hayward
Hayward Public Library, 888 C St., Hayward.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hayward? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Hayward
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hayward cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.4M 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 167,787 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Hayward ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasanton | Pleasanton Public Library fine-free | 11.7 | 61 | B |
| San Leandro | San Leandro Public Main Library fine-free | 5.0 | 55 | C− |
| Hayward | Hayward Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 48 | D |
| Castro Valley | Castro Valley Library fine-free | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Cherryland | Cherryland Library fine-free | — | 48 | — unincorporated |
| Union City | Union City Library fine-free | — | 38 | D− |
| San Lorenzo | San Lorenzo Library fine-free | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Fremont | Fremont Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C |
| Foster City | Foster City Library fine-free | — | 57 | C− |
| Fairview | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sunol | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hayward Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Hayward
Does Hayward have a public library?
Yes. Hayward Public Library, 888 C St., serves Hayward’s 159,770 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hayward 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 Hayward’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 2.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hayward’s civic life grade?
D Hayward is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #337 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 Hayward.
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.