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Main St. in San Joaquin, CAPhoto: Fruitianslip · CC BY-SA 4.0
San Joaquin Branch Library · part of Fresno County Public Library

San Joaquin’s library is a branch of Fresno County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 78% of systems its size

San Joaquin’s library is the San Joaquin Branch Library, a branch of Fresno County Public Library, which serves 993,976 people and lent 3.1M items last year.

8781 Main St., San Joaquin 93660 · about 39 hours a week
D−Civic lifeFewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns.
Directions (559) 693-2171 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
3.1M
3.1 per resident
Visits a year
1.1M
1.1 per resident · Below typical (2.1)
Programs & events
6,092
about 117 a week · 99K attended
Cardholders
17%
167,355 cards
Open
39 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

San Joaquin’s library, in brief

Below typical on every measure

Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Fresno County Public Library system sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on six. How it compares ↓

Few residents carry a card

Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. How it compares ↓

40% of borrowing happens on a screen

E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. 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; San Joaquin’s library is a branch of Fresno County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (993,976 people), not just the San Joaquin branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind San Joaquin’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, San Joaquin has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. San Joaquin is graded on two of the three inputs. San Joaquin’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.

D−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of San Joaquin’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureDCommunity nonprofits1.1 per 1,000 residents · CA towns 3.1 · U.S. 3.7D−Volunteering0.5% of adults 25–44 · CA towns 5.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Near the bottom
FewerMore
California towns we grade (448)Ahead of 4%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $32K–$54K (2,828)Near the bottom

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$54K) 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. San Joaquin is small (3,688 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; 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

4 community nonprofits are registered in San Joaquin

1.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.27 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other10.27 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

0.5%

0.5% of San Joaquin’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 Joaquin’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

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

Visits per resident 1.1 visits · typical 2.1Lower than 88%
Borrowing per resident 1.9 print items · typical 3.2Lower than 78%
Digital borrowing 1.3 e-items · typical 1.4Lower than 53%
Kids’ borrowing 0.9 kids’ items · typical 1.6Lower than 76%
Program attendance 0.1 attendees · typical 0.2Lower than 88%
Programs offered 6.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 9Lower than 73%
Cardholders 17% of residents · typical 41%Bottom 10%
Spending $36 per resident · typical $36Lower than 51%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Fresno County Public Library serves 993,976 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out

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

1.1M
visits
1.1 per resident
3.1M
loans, print + digital
3.1 per resident
6,092
programs & events
99K attended
167K
library cards
17% of people served
Every open hour45items borrowed
Every week1,912people at a program
Every day294Wi-Fi sessions
275 staff (full-time equivalent)310 public computers
What people borrow

40% of borrowing is digital

3.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

3.1Mloans
Books & media (adults) 31%Kids’ books & media 29%E-books, audio & streaming 40%
From your couch

1,252,318 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 48 kids’ programs a week

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

Schools in San Joaquin →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–51,092
Ages 6–111,405
Teens1,083
Adults2,390
All ages122
Little ones
21

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

897K
kids’ books & media borrowed
99K
people at programs
6,092
programs
The building

Find it

San Joaquin Branch Library, 8781 Main St., San Joaquin.

Directions(559) 693-2171
39
hours open a week
2,996
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 Fresno County Public Library branch.

New in San Joaquin? 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 $1.33 worth

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

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
1
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$36 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $35M.

Local taxes 95%State 1%Federal 0%Gifts & other 5%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $47M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $35M 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 167,355 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. San Joaquin Branch Library is one branch of Fresno County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 993,976 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 San Joaquin

Does San Joaquin have a public library?

Yes: San Joaquin Branch Library, 8781 Main St., is a branch of Fresno County Public Library, which serves 993,976 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Fresno County 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 Joaquin’s library?

It logged 1.1 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.

What is San Joaquin’s civic life grade?

D− San Joaquin has fewer 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 Joaquin.

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.