Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0San Anselmo’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
San Anselmo Public Library serves San Anselmo’s 12,426 residents. Last year it lent 199K books, movies and e-books and logged 69K visits.
The short version on San Anselmo’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in San Anselmo last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
San Anselmo is a town of borrowers
San Anselmo Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
17,000 people came to the library’s 332 programs last year: 1.4 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
San Anselmo invests in its library
San Anselmo Public Library spends $106 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 San Anselmo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Anselmo is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #37 of 448 in California. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
70 community nonprofits are registered in San Anselmo
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (13 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.
10.4%
10.4% of San Anselmo’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 San Anselmo’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 San Anselmo last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
San Anselmo Public Library serves 12,426 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 87 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
199K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
64,232 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
San Anselmo Public Library, 110 Tunstead Ave., San Anselmo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Anselmo? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Anselmo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 7,513 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Anselmo | San Anselmo Public Library fine-free | 16.0 | 44 | A |
| San Rafael | San Rafael Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 61 | B |
| Fairfax | Fairfax Library fine-free | — | 56 | A+ |
| Sleepy Hollow | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Ross | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 San Anselmo
Does San Anselmo have a public library?
Yes. San Anselmo Public Library, 110 Tunstead Ave., serves San Anselmo’s 12,426 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Anselmo 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 San Anselmo’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 16.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is San Anselmo’s civic life grade?
A San Anselmo is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #37 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 San Anselmo.
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.