Photo: SWENOWENSON · CC BY-SA 4.0Mill Valley’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Mill Valley Public Library serves Mill Valley’s 13,635 residents. Last year it lent 290K books, movies and e-books and logged 211K visits.
The short version on Mill Valley’s library
Mill Valley uses its library more than almost any town its size
Mill Valley Public Library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Mill Valley ranks 4th in California for borrowing
Out of 117 California towns with a library of their own, Mill Valley comes 4th for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #5 for library use and #10 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 40 items per child in Mill Valley last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Mill Valley Public Library ran 889 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 65 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 34,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
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 Mill Valley’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mill Valley is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #17 of 448 in California. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Mill Valley Public Library logged 15.5 visits per resident in FY2024, #62 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
102 community nonprofits are registered in Mill Valley
7.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Mill Valley’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 Mill Valley’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Mill Valley last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Mill Valley Public Library serves 13,635 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 102 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
290K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 120K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
81,877 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley.
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 Mill Valley? 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 $1.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mill Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $3.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.2M 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 11,362 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Valley | Mill Valley Public Library fine-free | 21.3 | 55 | A+ |
| Larkspur | Larkspur Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 29 | A− |
| Corte Madera | Corte Madera Library fine-free | — | 55 | A− |
| Tamalpais-Homestead Valley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Alto | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Strawberry | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Kentfield | 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.
- Visits count everyone. Mill Valley’s 211,385 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Mill Valley
Does Mill Valley have a public library?
Yes. Mill Valley Public Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave., serves Mill Valley’s 13,635 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mill Valley 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 Mill Valley’s library?
It logged 15.5 visits and lent 21.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Mill Valley’s civic life grade?
A+ Mill Valley is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Mill Valley.
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.