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DowntownRiverbankPhoto: Valente Quintero Castro · CC BY 3.0
Riverbank Library · part of Stanislaus County Free Library

Riverbank’s library is a branch of Stanislaus County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 68% of systems its size

Riverbank’s library is the Riverbank Library, a branch of Stanislaus County Free Library, which serves 548,744 people and lent 1.5M items last year.

3442 Santa Fe Ave., Riverbank 95367 · about 30 hours a week
D−Civic lifeAhead of 3% of U.S. towns · #368 of 448 in California. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (209) 869-7008 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
1.5M
2.7 per resident
Visits a year
777K
1.4 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
2,616
about 50 a week · 81K attended
Cardholders
60%
330,492 cards
Open
30 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Riverbank’s library is like

Most programs are for young children

77% of the 2,616 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 19 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

Kids’ books are most of what goes out

Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 62% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Riverbank’s library is a branch of Stanislaus County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (548,744 people), not just the Riverbank branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Riverbank’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Riverbank is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns, #368 of 448 in California. Riverbank is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.

D−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Riverbank’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureDCommunity nonprofits1.4 per 1,000 residents · CA towns 3.1 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.8% of adults 25–44 · CA towns 5.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 3%
FewerMore
California towns we grade (448)Ahead of 18%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $66K–$110K (8,543)Ahead of 3%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

34 community nonprofits are registered in Riverbank

1.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture30.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation80.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans20.08 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services80.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education30.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals10.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other80.32 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (13 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.

Volunteering

4.8%

4.8% of Riverbank’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 Riverbank’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 77%
Borrowing per resident 2.2 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 68%
Digital borrowing 0.5 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 86%
Kids’ borrowing 1.3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 62%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 74%
Programs offered 4.8 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 85%
Cardholders 60% of residents · typical 41%Higher than 79%
Spending $28 per resident · typical $36Lower than 64%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Stanislaus County Free Library serves 548,744 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 68 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Stanislaus County Free Library system. The library’s own count.

777K
visits
1.4 per resident
1.5M
loans, print + digital
2.7 per resident
2,616
programs & events
81K attended
330K
library cards
60% of people served
Every open hour68items borrowed
Every week1,553people at a program
Every day386Wi-Fi sessions
96 staff (full-time equivalent)130 public computers
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

1.5Mloans
Books & media (adults) 35%Kids’ books & media 48%E-books, audio & streaming 17%
From your couch

250,991 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 39 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Riverbank →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5993
Ages 6–111,033
Teens165
Adults425
All ages0
Little ones
19.1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

704K
kids’ books & media borrowed
81K
people at programs
2,616
programs
The building

Find it

Riverbank Library, 3442 Santa Fe Ave., Riverbank.

Directions(209) 869-7008
30
hours open a week
3,594
square feet
With a card

E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Stanislaus County Free Library branch.

New in Riverbank? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.46 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Riverbank cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$28 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.

Local taxes 94%State 3%Federal 1%Gifts & other 3%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $22M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 330,492 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Riverbank Library is one branch of Stanislaus County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 548,744 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 Riverbank

Does Riverbank have a public library?

Yes: Riverbank Library, 3442 Santa Fe Ave., is a branch of Stanislaus County Free Library, which serves 548,744 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Stanislaus County Free 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 Riverbank’s library?

It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is Riverbank’s civic life grade?

D− Riverbank is ahead of 3% of U.S. towns on civic life, #368 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 Riverbank.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.