Murrieta’s library runs 2.9 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Murrieta Public Library serves Murrieta’s 109,177 residents. Last year it lent 393K books, movies and e-books and logged 168K visits.
The short version on Murrieta’s library
Few programs for a library this size
Murrieta Public Library offered 318 programs last year, 2.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Murrieta Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Murrieta Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 63% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 3% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 97% of similar-size libraries. The print collection works hard: each item went out about 4 times last year. 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.
What’s behind Murrieta’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Murrieta is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #277 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #271. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Murrieta’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($86K–$143K) 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 →
320 community nonprofits are registered in Murrieta
2.9 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 (116 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 23 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Murrieta’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 Murrieta’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Murrieta Public Library serves 109,177 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 180 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
393K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 96K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4 times last year, on average.
11,250 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Murrieta last year.
Find it
Murrieta Public Library, 8 Town Square, Murrieta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Murrieta? 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 $1.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Murrieta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 16,628 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murrieta | Murrieta Public Library | 3.6 | 43 | D |
| Wildomar | Wildomar Library fine-free | — | 44 | D |
| French Valley | French Valley Library fine-free | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Temecula | Temecula Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| Menifee | Sun City Branch Library fine-free | — | 47 | D |
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 Murrieta
Does Murrieta have a public library?
Yes. Murrieta Public Library, 8 Town Square, serves Murrieta’s 109,177 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Murrieta 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 Murrieta’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Murrieta’s civic life grade?
D Murrieta is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #277 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 Murrieta.
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.