Photo: User:Oakshade · CC BY 2.5San Bernardino’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
San Bernardino Public Library serves San Bernardino’s 226,541 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
San Bernardino’s library, in brief
San Bernardino Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
San Bernardino Public Library records 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
San Bernardino Public Library offered 477 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 74 hours a week
The main library is open about 74 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 9% of the people San Bernardino Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. 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 San Bernardino’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Bernardino has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #383. San Bernardino’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
San Bernardino Public Library spends $13 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$84K) 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 →
336 community nonprofits are registered in San Bernardino
1.5 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 (205 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 27 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.7%
2.7% of San Bernardino’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 Bernardino’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
San Bernardino Public Library serves 226,541 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 180K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
11,310 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, 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 Bernardino last year.
5 places to borrow in San Bernardino
Norman F. Feldheym Library, 555 W. Sixth St., San Bernardino.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Bernardino? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in San Bernardino
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Bernardino cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $2.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $809K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.9M 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 20,509 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
San Bernardino ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. 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− |
| Colton | Colton Main Library fine-free | 0.3 | 46 | D− |
| San Bernardino | Norman F. Feldheym Library | 0.2 | 74 | D− |
| Highland | Highland Sam J. Racadio Library and Environmental Learning C | — | 40 | D− |
| Muscoy | Muscoy Baker Family Learning Center | — | 29 | — unincorporated |
| Rialto | Rialto Branch Library | — | 34 | D− |
| Loma Linda | Loma Linda Branch Library | — | 29 | C− |
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 Bernardino
Does San Bernardino have a public library?
Yes. San Bernardino Public Library, 555 W. Sixth St., serves San Bernardino’s 226,541 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 74 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits and lent 0.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is San Bernardino’s civic life grade?
D− San Bernardino has fewer library visits and community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. 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 Bernardino.
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.