Photo: Kiddo27 · CC BY-SA 4.0Pleasanton’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Pleasanton Public Library serves Pleasanton’s 75,960 residents. Last year it lent 885K print books and media and logged 380K visits.
Pleasanton’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 75% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 38 items per child in Pleasanton last year. Kids & programs ↓
Pleasanton uses its library more than almost any town its size
Pleasanton Public Library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Top 10% in California for kids’ borrowing
Pleasanton ranks #11 of 117 California towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 173,000 items on the shelves went out about 5.1 times last year, on average. 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 Pleasanton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pleasanton is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #124 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
376 community nonprofits are registered in Pleasanton
4.9 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 (52 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.0%
6.0% of Pleasanton’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 Pleasanton’s residents live; 2022.
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 Pleasanton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pleasanton Public Library serves 75,960 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 313 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
885K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 173K books and other items on the shelves went out about 5.1 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Pleasanton Public Library, 400 Old Bernal Ave., Pleasanton.
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 Pleasanton? 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 $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pleasanton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $5.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.3M 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 51,678 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Pleasanton borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Pleasanton
Does Pleasanton have a public library?
Yes. Pleasanton Public Library, 400 Old Bernal Ave., serves Pleasanton’s 75,960 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pleasanton 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 Pleasanton’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 11.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Pleasanton’s civic life grade?
B Pleasanton is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on civic life, #124 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 Pleasanton.
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.