Photo: kl91711 · CC BY 3.0Pomona’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Pomona Public Library serves Pomona’s 152,166 residents. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 53K visits.
The short version on Pomona’s library
Pomona Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Pomona Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Pomona Public Library offered 114 programs last year, 0.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Pomona Public Library holds 215,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Pomona’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pomona has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #374. Pomona’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Pomona’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($60K–$99K) 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 →
276 community nonprofits are registered in Pomona
1.9 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 (153 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Pomona’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 Pomona’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pomona Public Library serves 152,166 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 215K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
15,010 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
114 programs a year
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 Pomona last year.
Find it
Pomona Public Library, 625 S. Garey Ave., Pomona.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pomona? 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 Pomona cardholder borrows.
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 51,394 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pomona | Pomona Public Library fine-free | 0.4 | 34 | D− |
| San Dimas | San Dimas Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
| La Verne | La Verne Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
| Claremont | Claremont Helen Renwick Library fine-free | — | 40 | A |
| Diamond Bar | Diamond Bar Library fine-free | — | 56 | D |
| Walnut | Walnut Library fine-free | — | 40 | C+ |
| Chino Hills | Chino Hills | — | 44 | D |
| Chino | Chino Branch Library | — | 24 | D |
| Industry | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Pomona Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Pomona
Does Pomona have a public library?
Yes. Pomona Public Library, 625 S. Garey Ave., serves Pomona’s 152,166 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pomona 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 Pomona’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Pomona’s civic life grade?
D− Pomona has fewer library visits and community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Pomona.
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.