Photo: sebi ryffel from Los Angeles · CC BY-SA 2.0San Marino’s library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Crowell Public Library serves San Marino’s 12,379 residents. Last year it lent 136K books, movies and e-books and logged 210K visits.
San Marino’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
34,643 cards for 12,379 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
San Marino ranks 2nd in California for library use
Out of 116 California towns with a library of their own, San Marino comes 2nd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
San Marino uses its library more than almost any town its size
Crowell Public Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 9.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 58% 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 Marino last year. Kids & programs ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Crowell Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. 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 Marino’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Marino is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #42 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Crowell Public Library logged 17.0 visits per resident in FY2024, #46 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
95 community nonprofits are registered in San Marino
7.8 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of San Marino’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 Marino’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Crowell Public Library serves 12,379 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
136K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 86K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
13,865 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Marino last year.
Find it
Crowell Public Library, 1890 Huntington Dr., San Marino.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in San Marino? 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 $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Marino cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 34,643 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
San Marino ranks 2nd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Pasadena | South Pasadena Public Library fine-free | 14.3 | 55 | A− |
| San Marino | Crowell Public Library | 11.0 | 59 | A |
| Pasadena | Hastings Branch Library fine-free | 4.9 | 54 | B |
| Alhambra | Alhambra Public Library | 3.9 | 60 | C− |
| San Gabriel | San Gabriel Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
| East San Gabriel | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| San Pasqual | 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.
- Visits count everyone. San Marino’s 210,365 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Marino
Does San Marino have a public library?
Yes. Crowell Public Library, 1890 Huntington Dr., serves San Marino’s 12,379 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crowell 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 Marino’s library?
It logged 17.0 visits and lent 11.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is San Marino’s civic life grade?
A San Marino is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Marino.
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.