Neutra, Richard and Dion, VDL Research Houses and Studio · Photo: Doncram · CC BY-SA 3.0Los Angeles’ library runs 2.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Los Angeles Public Library serves Los Angeles’s 3,814,318 residents from 73 locations. Last year it lent 26M books, movies and e-books and logged 5.7M visits.
Los Angeles’s library, in brief
Most of Los Angeles’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 70% of loans, more per resident than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 30%. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Los Angeles Public Library offered 11,135 programs last year, 2.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
73 places to borrow in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Public Library runs 73 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Los Angeles Central Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1970. Today’s library there has 538,802 square feet. The buildings ↓
84% of Los Angeles carry a library card
3,205,992 cards for 3,814,318 people, or 84%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. 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.
What’s behind Los Angeles’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Los Angeles is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #285 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #280. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Los Angeles’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$102K) 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 →
11,303 community nonprofits are registered in Los Angeles
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (4,607 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1,102 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Los Angeles’ 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 Los Angeles’ residents live; 2022.
70% of borrowing is digital
26M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6.3M books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
17,911,689 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Los Angeles Public Library serves 3,814,318 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 137 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 75 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Los Angeles last year.
A National Register landmark since 1970
Central Library, 630 West Fifth St., Los Angeles.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Los Angeles? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Los Angeles Central Library
Los Angeles Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 18, 1970. It is significant for its landscape design, art and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as International Style.
Richard J. Riordan Central Library, primarily known as the Los Angeles Central Library, is the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan.
More about the building →Other libraries in Los Angeles
And 61 more in Los Angeles.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Los Angeles cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $225M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $386M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $225M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 3,205,992 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Los Angeles ranks 3rd of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica | Santa Monica Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 29 | B+ |
| Burbank | Burbank Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 58 | B− |
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | D |
| Pasadena | Hastings Branch Library fine-free | 4.9 | 54 | B |
| Glendale | Glendale Library, Arts & Culture fine-free | 4.6 | 66 | C |
| Inglewood | Inglewood Public Library fine-free | 0.7 | 51 | D |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | Miraleste Library fine-free | — | 40 | C |
| Carson | Carson Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
| West Rancho Dominguez | A C Bilbrew Library fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| East Los Angeles | East Los Angeles Library fine-free | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| Vernon | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Los Angeles
Does Los Angeles have a public library?
Yes. Los Angeles Public Library, 630 West Fifth St., serves Los Angeles’ 3,814,318 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Los Angeles Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Los Angeles’ library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Los Angeles’ civic life grade?
D Los Angeles is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #285 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 Los Angeles.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.