Photo: Slof · Public domainIone’s library is a branch of Amador County Library, which lends less per resident than 87% of systems its size
Ione’s library is the Ione Branch Library, a branch of Amador County Library, which serves 39,611 people and lent 65K items last year.
What Ione’s library is like
The Amador County Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Amador County Library system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Ione branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. 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; Ione’s library is a branch of Amador County Library, so they cover the whole system (39,611 people), not just the Ione branch.
What’s behind Ione’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Ione is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #151 of 448 in California. Ione is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Ione’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Ione
1.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.1%
14.1% of Ione’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 Ione’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.
Amador County Library serves 39,611 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Amador County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
65K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
21,100 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Ione Branch Library, 25 East Main St., Ione.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Amador County Library branch.
New in Ione? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ione cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $962K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $962K 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 28,875 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Ione Branch Library is one branch of Amador County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 39,611 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 Ione
Does Ione have a public library?
Yes: Ione Branch Library, 25 East Main St., is a branch of Amador County Library, which serves 39,611 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Amador 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 Ione’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Ione’s civic life grade?
B− Ione is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #151 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 Ione.
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.