Photo: Don Graham from Redlands, CA, USA - God bless it! · CC BY-SA 2.0Redlands’ library logs 3.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
A. K. Smiley Public Library serves Redlands’s 72,696 residents. Last year it lent 272K books, movies and e-books and logged 231K visits.
Redlands’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
A. K. Smiley Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. Today’s library there has 64,636 square feet. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Redlands has a card
62,586 cards for 72,696 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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 Redlands’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Redlands is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #152 of 448 in California. Redlands’ count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
370 community nonprofits are registered in Redlands
5.0 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 (91 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Redlands’ 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 Redlands’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
A. K. Smiley Public Library serves 72,696 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 98 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
272K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 121K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
51,900 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Redlands last year.
A National Register landmark since 1976
A. K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Redlands? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
A. K. Smiley Public Library
A. K. Smiley Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 12, 1976. It is significant for its art, education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Moorish Style.
The A. K. Smiley Public Library is a public library located at 125 W. Vine St. in Redlands, California. Built in 1898, the library was donated to Redlands by philanthropist Albert K. Smiley. The library is within Smiley Park Historic District and adjacent the Redlands Bowl and Lincoln Memorial Shrine.
More about the building →What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Redlands cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.5M 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 62,586 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redlands | A. K. Smiley Public Library fine-free | 3.7 | 53 | B− |
| San Bernardino | Norman F. Feldheym Library | 0.2 | 74 | D− |
| Mentone | Mentone Senior Center and Library | — | 29 | — unincorporated |
| Yucaipa | Yucaipa Branch Library | — | 34 | D |
| Loma Linda | Loma Linda Branch Library | — | 29 | C− |
| Highland | Highland Sam J. Racadio Library and Environmental Learning C | — | 40 | D− |
| Calimesa | Calimesa Library fine-free | — | 38 | D |
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 Redlands
Does Redlands have a public library?
Yes. A. K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., serves Redlands’ 72,696 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is A. K. Smiley 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 Redlands’ library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Redlands’ civic life grade?
B− Redlands is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #152 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 Redlands.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.