Photo: Amin Eshaiker · CC BY-SA 4.0Placentia’s library logs 4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Placentia Library District serves Placentia’s 52,226 residents. Last year it lent 334K books, movies and e-books and logged 209K visits.
Placentia’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
68,904 cards for 52,226 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 71% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 74% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 700 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 200 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Placentia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Placentia is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #223 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($87K–$145K) 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 →
142 community nonprofits are registered in Placentia
2.7 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 (49 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.4%
4.4% of Placentia’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 Placentia’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Placentia Library District serves 52,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 105 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
334K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 84K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
112,344 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Placentia last year.
Find it
Placentia Library District, 411 E. Chapman Ave., Placentia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Placentia? 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 $1.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Placentia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.6M 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 68,904 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Placentia ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yorba Linda | Yorba Linda Public Library | 24.8 | 58 | B |
| Placentia | Placentia Library District fine-free | 6.4 | 61 | C− |
| Anaheim | Anaheim Public Library - Central | 3.1 | 43 | D− |
| Fullerton | Fullerton Main Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | D |
| Brea | Brea Branch Library fine-free | — | 42 | C− |
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 Placentia
Does Placentia have a public library?
Yes. Placentia Library District, 411 E. Chapman Ave., serves Placentia’s 52,226 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Placentia Library District 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 Placentia’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Placentia’s civic life grade?
C− Placentia is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #223 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 Placentia.
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.