Photo: Payton Chung · CC BY 2.0San Jose’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
San Jose Public Library serves San Jose’s 969,491 residents from 25 locations. Last year it lent 7.9M books, movies and e-books and logged 3.7M visits.
What San Jose’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
San Jose’s library lends 8.2 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Santa Clara at 14. Libraries next door ↓
25 places to borrow in San Jose
San Jose Public Library runs 25 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
San Jose Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All eight libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
San Jose Public Library ran 21,439 programs last year, about 412 a week. That’s 22 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. People show up: 535,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 69 hours a week
The main library is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
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 Jose’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Jose is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #219 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #194. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($110K–$183K) 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 →
2,492 community nonprofits are registered in San Jose
2.5 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 (808 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 199 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.4%
5.4% of San Jose’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 Jose’s residents live; 2022.
About 206 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 Jose last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
San Jose Public Library serves 969,491 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 2M books and other items on the shelves went out about 3 times last year, on average.
2,158,249 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
26 places to borrow in San Jose
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, 150 E San Fernando Street, San Jose.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Jose? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in San Jose
And 13 more in San Jose.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.08 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Jose cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $63M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63M 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 762,169 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
San Jose ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara | Santa Clara City Library - Central Park Library fine-free | 14.0 | 28 | C |
| Los Gatos | Los Gatos Public Library fine-free | 13.8 | 54 | A− |
| Sunnyvale | Sunnyvale Public Library fine-free | 11.2 | — | D |
| San Jose | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library | 8.2 | 69 | C− |
| Campbell | Campbell Library fine-free | — | 58 | C+ |
| Milpitas | Milpitas Library fine-free | — | 68 | D |
| Fremont | Fremont Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C |
| Cupertino | Cupertino Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Saratoga | Saratoga Library fine-free | — | 59 | B+ |
| Alum Rock | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| East Foothills | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Jose
Does San Jose have a public library?
Yes. San Jose Public Library, 150 E San Fernando Street, serves San Jose’s 969,491 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 69 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Jose 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 Jose’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is San Jose’s civic life grade?
C− San Jose is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #219 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 Jose.
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.