Photo: Roger Puta · Public domainPortola’s library is a branch of Plumas County Library, which lends less per resident than 70% of systems its size
Portola’s library is the Portola Branch Library, a branch of Plumas County Library, which serves 22,012 people and lent 70K items last year.
What Portola’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 170 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Plumas County Library system offered 170 programs last year, 7.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. 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; Portola’s library is a branch of Plumas County Library, so they cover the whole system (22,012 people), not just the Portola branch.
What’s behind Portola’s civic life grade
Portola isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Plumas County Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Portola
8.2 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Plumas County Library serves 22,012 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plumas County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
70K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
16,701 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Portola Branch Library, 34 3rd Ave., Portola.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plumas County Library branch.
New in Portola? 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Portola cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $855K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $855K 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 10,771 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portola | Portola Branch Library | — | 29 | — too few inputs |
| Delleker | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Iron Horse | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lake Davis | 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.
- System-wide. Portola Branch Library is one branch of Plumas County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 22,012 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 Portola
Does Portola have a public library?
Yes: Portola Branch Library, 34 3rd Ave., is a branch of Plumas County Library, which serves 22,012 people. The branch is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plumas County 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 Portola’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Portola’s civic life grade?
Portola isn’t graded on civic life: its library is a branch of Plumas County Library, so there is no town figure for visits and the volunteering estimate doesn’t cover enough of it. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Portola.
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.