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Live Oak on CA 99Photo: User:bobjgalindo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Barber Branch Library · part of Sutter County Library

Live Oak’s library is a branch of Sutter County Library, which lends less per resident than 65% of systems its size

Live Oak’s library is the Barber Branch Library, a branch of Sutter County Library, which serves 100,110 people and lent 243K items last year.

10321 Live Oak Blvd., Live Oak 95953 · about 12 hours a week
DCivic lifeAhead of 8% of U.S. towns · #319 of 448 in California. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (530) 695-2021 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
243K
2.4 per resident
Visits a year
100K
1 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
1,271
about 24 a week · 14K attended
Cardholders
37%
37,214 cards
Open
12 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

Live Oak’s library, in brief

Open only about 12 hours a week

The Live Oak branch keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

California pays a big share

21% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Fewer visits than most libraries its size

The Sutter County Library system records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓

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; Live Oak’s library is a branch of Sutter County Library, so they cover the whole system (100,110 people), not just the Live Oak branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Live Oak’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Live Oak is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #319 of 448 in California. Live Oak is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Live Oak’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.

D
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Live Oak’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureC−Community nonprofits2.5 per 1,000 residents · CA towns 3.1 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.5% of adults 25–44 · CA towns 5.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 8%
FewerMore
California towns we grade (448)Ahead of 29%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $55K–$92K (9,223)Ahead of 7%

Sutter County Library spends $16 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Live Oak is small (9,466 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

23 community nonprofits are registered in Live Oak

2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation60.64 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans30.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services30.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education40.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health40.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other20.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.5%

4.5% of Live Oak’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 Live Oak’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1 visits · typical 2.1Bottom 10%
Borrowing per resident 2.4 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 65%
Kids’ borrowing 0.9 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 78%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 75%
Programs offered 12.7 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Higher than 66%
Cardholders 37% of residents · typical 41%Lower than 58%
Spending $16 per resident · typical $36Lower than 88%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sutter County Library system. The library’s own count.

100K
visits
1 per resident
243K
loans, print + digital
2.4 per resident
1,271
programs & events
14K attended
37K
library cards
37% of people served
Every open hour66items borrowed
Every week274people at a program
Every week1,922visits
16 staff (full-time equivalent)32 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

243K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

243Kloans
Books & media (adults) 63%Kids’ books & media 37%
From your couch

Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 8 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Live Oak →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5227
Ages 6–11190
Teens58
Adults3
All ages793
Little ones
4.4

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

89K
kids’ books & media borrowed
14K
people at programs
1,271
programs
The building

Find it

Barber Branch Library, 10321 Live Oak Blvd., Live Oak.

Directions(530) 695-2021
12
hours open a week
1,932
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sutter County Library branch.

New in Live Oak? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.36 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Live Oak cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$16 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.6M.

Local taxes 61%State 21%Federal 15%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 37,214 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
  • System-wide. Barber Branch Library is one branch of Sutter County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 100,110 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 Live Oak

Does Live Oak have a public library?

Yes: Barber Branch Library, 10321 Live Oak Blvd., is a branch of Sutter County Library, which serves 100,110 people. The branch is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Sutter 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 Live Oak’s library?

It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Live Oak’s civic life grade?

D Live Oak is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #319 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 Live Oak.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.