Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Porterville’s library lends 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Porterville Public Library serves Porterville’s 62,934 residents. Last year it lent 108K books, movies and e-books and logged 128K visits.
Porterville’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Porterville Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
81% of the 529 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 13% of the people Porterville Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Open about 65 hours a week
Porterville Public Library is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out. The buildings ↓
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 Porterville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Porterville is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns, #364 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Porterville Public Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($45K–$76K) 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 →
93 community nonprofits are registered in Porterville
1.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (56 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.1%
2.1% of Porterville’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 Porterville’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Porterville Public Library serves 62,934 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
108K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
16,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Porterville last year.
2 places to borrow in Porterville
Porterville Public Library, 50 West Olive Avenue, Suite B, Porterville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Porterville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Porterville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Porterville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 8,134 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porterville | Porterville Public Library | 1.7 | 65 | D− |
| East Porterville | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Porterville
Does Porterville have a public library?
Yes. Porterville Public Library, 50 West Olive Avenue, Suite B, serves Porterville’s 62,934 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Porterville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Porterville’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Porterville’s civic life grade?
D− Porterville is ahead of 4% of U.S. towns on civic life, #364 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 Porterville.
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.