Photo: Tranistrider1979 · CC BY-SA 3.0Mountain House’s library is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 88% of systems its size
Mountain House’s library is the Mountain House Library, a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which serves 724,916 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What Mountain House’s library is like
The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 70% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 75% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Mountain House’s library is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (724,916 people), not just the Mountain House branch.
What’s behind Mountain House’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountain House is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #201 of 448 in California. Mountain House is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($133K–$221K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for 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 →
81 community nonprofits are registered in Mountain House
3.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (12 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.
6.8%
6.8% of Mountain House’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 Mountain House’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library serves 724,916 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
276,992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 45 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
Mountain House Library, 201 East Main Street, Mountain House.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library branch.
New in Mountain House? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain House cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 160,963 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Mountain House Library is one branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 724,916 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 Mountain House
Does Mountain House have a public library?
Yes: Mountain House Library, 201 East Main Street, is a branch of Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, which serves 724,916 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stockton-San Joaquin County Public 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 Mountain House’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Mountain House’s civic life grade?
C Mountain House is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #201 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 Mountain House.
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.