Mount Shasta’s library is a branch of Siskiyou County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 58% of systems its size
Mount Shasta’s library is the Mt. Shasta Branch Library, a branch of Siskiyou County Free Library, which serves 43,409 people and lent 184K items last year.
What stands out about Mt. Shasta Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Mount Shasta’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mount Shasta is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #3 of 448 in California. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Mount Shasta is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Mount Shasta near the top nationally; Mount Shasta’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
The survey’s stand-in for Mount Shasta’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Mount Shasta
10.6 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.9%
14.9% of Mount Shasta’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 Mount Shasta’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Siskiyou County Free Library serves 43,409 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Siskiyou County Free 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
184K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
50,442 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Mt. Shasta Branch Library, 515 Alma St., Mt. Shasta.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Siskiyou County Free Library branch.
New in Mount Shasta? 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 $3.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mount Shasta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $765K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $765K 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 12,009 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Siskiyou County Free Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Mt. Shasta Branch Library is one branch of Siskiyou County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 43,409 people it serves.
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 Mount Shasta
Does Mount Shasta have a public library?
Yes: Mt. Shasta Branch Library, 515 Alma St., is a branch of Siskiyou County Free Library, which serves 43,409 people. The branch is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Siskiyou County Free 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 Mount Shasta’s library?
It lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Mount Shasta’s civic life grade?
A+ Mount Shasta is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Mount Shasta.
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.