Photo: Arnaudh · CC BY 3.0Lakeport’s library lends 2.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Lake County Library serves 67,001 people in and around Lakeport. Last year it lent 232K books, movies and e-books and drew 8,401 people to its programs.
What stands out about Lake County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lakeport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lakeport is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #22 of 448 in California. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Lakeport is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Lakeport’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Lakeport
6.6 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.3%
11.3% of Lakeport’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 Lakeport’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lake County Library serves 67,001 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Lake County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lake County Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
232K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
73,687 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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.
2 places to borrow in Lakeport
Lake County Library, 1425 N. High, Lakeport.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lake County Library branch.
New in Lakeport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Lake County Library branches in Lakeport
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lakeport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 28,984 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeport | Lake County Library | — | 35 | A |
| North Lakeport | 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.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Lake County Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Lake County Library serves 67,001 people in and around Lakeport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lakeport.
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 Lakeport
Does Lakeport have a public library?
Yes. Lake County Library, 1425 N. High, serves 67,001 people in and around Lakeport (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake 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 Lakeport’s library?
It lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 829 programs that drew 8,401 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Lakeport’s civic life grade?
A Lakeport is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #22 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 Lakeport.
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.