Photo: Slamslam102 · CC BY-SA 3.0Lathrop’s library is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size
Lathrop’s library is the Lathrop Library, a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which serves 724,916 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
The short version on Lathrop’s library
The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $36. 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 75% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Lathrop’s library is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (724,916 people), not just the Lathrop branch.
What’s behind Lathrop’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lathrop is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #384 of 448 in California. Lathrop is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Lathrop’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($95K–$158K) 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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Lathrop
1.9 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 (26 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 7 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of Lathrop’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 Lathrop’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.
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library serves 724,916 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
276,992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 45 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
Lathrop Library, 450 Spartan Wy, Lathrop.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library branch.
New in Lathrop? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lathrop cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 160,963 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lathrop | Lathrop Library | — | 28 | D− |
| Manteca | Manteca Library | — | 46 | D− |
| French Camp | 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. Lathrop Library is one branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 724,916 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 Lathrop
Does Lathrop have a public library?
Yes: Lathrop Library, 450 Spartan Wy, is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which serves 724,916 people. The branch is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stockton-San Joaquin County Public 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 Lathrop’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lathrop’s civic life grade?
D− Lathrop is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #384 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 Lathrop.
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.