Mariposa County High School Auditorium · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Mariposa’s library runs 17 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Mariposa County Library serves 16,966 people in and around Mariposa. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and drew 3,666 people to its programs.
The short version on Mariposa’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Mariposa County Library sits below the middle on all six per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. 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; Mariposa County Library serves 16,966 people in and around Mariposa, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mariposa’s civic life grade
Mariposa isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Mariposa County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Mariposa
Mariposa is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
9.8%
9.8% of Mariposa’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 Mariposa’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mariposa County Library serves 16,966 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mariposa 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
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,301 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Mariposa Library, 4978 10th Street, Mariposa.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mariposa County Library branch.
New in Mariposa? 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 $1.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mariposa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $619K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $777K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $619K 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 3,941 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Mariposa County Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Mariposa County Library serves 16,966 people in and around Mariposa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mariposa.
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 Mariposa
Does Mariposa have a public library?
Yes. Mariposa County Library, 4978 10th Street, serves 16,966 people in and around Mariposa (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mariposa 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 Mariposa’s library?
It lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 280 programs that drew 3,666 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Mariposa’s civic life grade?
Mariposa isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Mariposa County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mariposa.
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.