Photo: Federico Pizano · CC BY 3.0Contra Costa County Public Law Library didn’t send its yearly numbers to the Public Libraries Survey
Contra Costa County Public Law Library serves 1 people in and around Martinez.
What stands out about Contra Costa County Public Law Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Martinez’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Martinez is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #128 of 448 in California. Martinez is graded on two of the three inputs. Martinez’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
174 community nonprofits are registered in Martinez
4.7 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 (31 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.2%
7.2% of Martinez’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 Martinez’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2008
Contra Costa County Public Law Library, 1020 Ward St., Martinez.
Good at every Contra Costa County Public Law Library branch.
New in Martinez? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Martinez City Library
Martinez City Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 31, 2008. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Art Deco.
Martinez Library is a historic library located in downtown Martinez, California that is part of the Contra Costa County Library system.
More about the building →Other Contra Costa County Public Law Library branches in Martinez
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martinez | Contra Costa County Public Law Library | — | — | B |
| Pleasant Hill | Pleasant Hill Library fine-free | — | 46 | C+ |
| Mountain View | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Vine Hill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Alhambra Valley | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pacheco | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Reliez Valley | 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. Contra Costa County Public Law Library serves 1 people in and around Martinez, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Martinez.
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 Martinez
Does Martinez have a public library?
Yes. Contra Costa County Public Law Library, 1020 Ward St., serves 1 people in and around Martinez (the survey’s count).
What is Martinez’s civic life grade?
B Martinez is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #128 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 Martinez.
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; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.