Photo: Mike Boucher · CC BY 2.0Montecito’s library lends 5.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Santa Barbara Public Library serves 98,837 people in and around Montecito. Last year it lent 841K books, movies and e-books and logged 287K visits.
What Montecito’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.1 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 37% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Santa Barbara Public Library serves more than Montecito
The library’s service area covers 98,837 people in and around Montecito, so its per-resident numbers are measured against that wider population. How it compares ↓
81% of Montecito carry a library card
80,393 cards for 98,837 people, or 81%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. 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 Montecito’s civic life grade
Montecito isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
841K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 144K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.7 times last year, on average.
307,777 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Santa Barbara Public Library serves 98,837 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 127 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 16 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.
Find it
Montecito Library, 1469 E. Valley Rd, Montecito.
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 Montecito? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Montecito cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.2M 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 80,393 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montecito | Montecito Library fine-free | 8.5 | 36 | — unincorporated |
| Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara Public Library fine-free | 8.5 | 38 | B |
| Summerland | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Toro Canyon | 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.
- 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 Montecito
Does Montecito have a public library?
Yes. Santa Barbara Public Library, 1469 E. Valley Rd, serves 98,837 people in and around Montecito (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Barbara 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 Montecito’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Montecito’s civic life grade?
Montecito isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary), its library’s visits weren’t reported for 2024 and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Montecito.
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.