Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0San Leandro’s library logs 3.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
San Leandro Public Library serves San Leandro’s 87,098 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 440K books, movies and e-books and logged 290K visits.
San Leandro’s library, in brief
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 67% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
San Leandro invests in its library
San Leandro Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Three places to borrow in San Leandro
San Leandro Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. 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 Leandro’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Leandro is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #229 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($76K–$127K) 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 →
210 community nonprofits are registered in San Leandro
2.4 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 (72 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of San Leandro’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 Leandro’s residents live; 2022.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Leandro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $8.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.3M 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 25,006 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
San Leandro Public Library serves 87,098 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 88 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
440K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 326K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
60,076 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Leandro last year.
3 places to borrow in San Leandro
San Leandro Public Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., San Leandro.
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 Leandro? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in San Leandro
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 Leandro | San Leandro Public Main Library fine-free | 5.0 | 55 | C− |
| Hayward | Hayward Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 48 | D |
| Oakland | Oakland Main Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| San Lorenzo | San Lorenzo Library fine-free | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Castro Valley | Castro Valley Library fine-free | — | 41 | — unincorporated |
| Ashland | 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.
- 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 Leandro
Does San Leandro have a public library?
Yes. San Leandro Public Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., serves San Leandro’s 87,098 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Leandro 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 Leandro’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is San Leandro’s civic life grade?
C− San Leandro is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #229 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 Leandro.
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.