Photo: Colin Marquardt, Colin Marquardt · Public domainPetaluma’s library is a branch of Sonoma County Library, which lends more per resident than 77% of systems its size
Petaluma’s library is the Petaluma Regional Library, a branch of Sonoma County Library, which serves 478,152 people and lent 4.4M items last year.
Petaluma’s library, in brief
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
The Sonoma County Library system spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Petaluma’s library is a branch of Sonoma County Library, so they cover the whole system (478,152 people), not just the Petaluma branch.
What’s behind Petaluma’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Petaluma is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #28 of 448 in California. Petaluma is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
323 community nonprofits are registered in Petaluma
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (48 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.5%
11.5% of Petaluma’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 Petaluma’s residents live; 2022.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
4.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,678,308 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sonoma County Library serves 478,152 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sonoma County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 55 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
Petaluma Regional Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma.
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 Sonoma County Library branch.
New in Petaluma? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Petaluma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $42M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42M 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 235,846 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Petaluma Regional Library is one branch of Sonoma County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 478,152 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 Petaluma
Does Petaluma have a public library?
Yes: Petaluma Regional Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive, is a branch of Sonoma County Library, which serves 478,152 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sonoma County 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 Petaluma’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Petaluma’s civic life grade?
A Petaluma is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #28 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 Petaluma.
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.