Photo: Robert Hsiao · CC BY-SA 4.0Oakland’s library logs 3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Oakland Public Library serves 449,189 people in and around Oakland from 18 locations. Last year it lent 3.2M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.4M visits.
Oakland’s library, in brief
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Oakland Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with five in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
18 branches in Oakland
Oakland has 18 branches of the Oakland Public Library, which serves 449,189 people in and around Oakland. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
Oakland Public Library spends $106 per resident a year, about three times the typical $36 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Oakland Public Library serves 449,189 people in and around Oakland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Oakland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Oakland is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #62 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #20. Oakland is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Oakland’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
2,337 community nonprofits are registered in Oakland
5.3 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 (578 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 121 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Oakland’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 Oakland’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Oakland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $48M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $48M 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 184,466 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Oakland Public Library serves 449,189 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Oakland Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.2M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,027,664 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 68 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.
19 places to borrow in Oakland
Oakland Main Library, 125 14th St., Oakland.
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 Oakland Public Library branch.
New in Oakland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Oakland Public Library branches in Oakland
And 6 more in Oakland.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | Berkeley Public Library - Central fine-free | 19.1 | 45 | A+ |
| Alameda | Alameda Free Library fine-free | 9.3 | 54 | B+ |
| South San Francisco | South San Francisco Main Library fine-free | 6.9 | 51 | C− |
| San Leandro | San Leandro Public Main Library fine-free | 5.0 | 55 | C− |
| Hayward | Hayward Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 48 | D |
| Oakland | Oakland Main Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| Castro Valley | Castro Valley Library fine-free | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Brisbane | Brisbane Library fine-free | — | 57 | B+ |
| Emeryville | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Oakland Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Oakland Public Library serves 449,189 people in and around Oakland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Oakland.
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 Oakland
Does Oakland have a public library?
Yes. Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St., serves 449,189 people in and around Oakland (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Oakland 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 Oakland’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Oakland’s civic life grade?
A− Oakland is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 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 Oakland.
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.