Photo: Hikki Nagasaki · Public domainOrland’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Orland Free Library serves 16,073 people in and around Orland. Last year it lent 32K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
The short version on Orland’s library
Programs are almost all for children
99% of the 87 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 40 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Orland Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Orland Free Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Orland Free Library offered 87 programs last year, 5.4 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
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; Orland Free Library serves 16,073 people in and around Orland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Orland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Orland is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #44 of 448 in California. Orland is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Orland’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 →
58 community nonprofits are registered in Orland
6.9 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.8%
8.8% of Orland’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 Orland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Orland Free Library serves 16,073 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Orland Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
32K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,497 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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
Orland Free Library, 333 Mill St., Orland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Orland Free Library branch.
New in Orland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Orland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $559K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $497K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $559K 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 10,587 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Orland Free Library serves 16,073 people in and around Orland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Orland.
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 Orland
Does Orland have a public library?
Yes. Orland Free Library, 333 Mill St., serves 16,073 people in and around Orland (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Orland Free Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Orland’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Orland’s civic life grade?
A Orland is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 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 Orland.
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.