Photo: BrendelSignature · CC BY-SA 3.0Hollister’s library runs 5.2 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
San Benito County Free Library serves 63,821 people in and around Hollister. Last year it lent 95K books, movies and e-books and logged 155K visits.
Hollister’s library, in brief
Most programs are for young children
79% of the 333 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
San Benito County Free Library offered 333 programs last year, 5.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Hollister Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992. Today’s library there has 11,230 square feet. The building ↓
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; San Benito County Free Library serves 63,821 people in and around Hollister, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hollister’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hollister is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #212 of 448 in California. Hollister is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Hollister’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($84K–$140K) 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 →
151 community nonprofits are registered in Hollister
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (44 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Hollister’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 Hollister’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
San Benito County Free Library serves 63,821 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole San Benito County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
95K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
23,756 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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.
A National Register landmark since 1992
San Benito County Free Library, 470 Fifth St., Hollister.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every San Benito County Free Library branch.
New in Hollister? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Hollister Carnegie Library
Hollister Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 26, 1992. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of California Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The Hollister Carnegie Library (previously: Hollister Free Public Library; now Hollister City Hall) is located on 375 Fifth Street in Hollister, California, US. Established in 1912 as a Carnegie library, decades later, it was re-purposed as a city hall. The building is part of the downtown's National Register-listed historic district, and was entered itself into the National Register on March 26, 1992.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hollister cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $933K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $933K 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 39,583 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollister | San Benito County Free Library | — | 44 | C |
| Ridgemark | 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. San Benito County Free Library serves 63,821 people in and around Hollister, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hollister.
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 Hollister
Does Hollister have a public library?
Yes. San Benito County Free Library, 470 Fifth St., serves 63,821 people in and around Hollister (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Benito County Free 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 Hollister’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hollister’s civic life grade?
C Hollister is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #212 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 Hollister.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.