Ernest Coxhead House · Photo: Eugene Zelenko · CC BY-SA 4.0San Mateo’s library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
San Mateo Public Library serves San Mateo’s 107,057 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 379K visits.
The short version on San Mateo’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in San Mateo last year. Kids & programs ↓
San Mateo uses its library more than almost any town its size
San Mateo Public Library logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.2 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
San Mateo Public Library logs about 2,569 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 127 public computers. That’s 8.8 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Three places to borrow in San Mateo
San Mateo Public Library runs three locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
76% of San Mateo carry a library card
81,266 cards for 107,057 people, or 76%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. 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 Mateo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, San Mateo is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #205 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #174. 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 ($115K–$192K) 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 →
325 community nonprofits are registered in San Mateo
3.2 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 (88 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of San Mateo’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 Mateo’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 141 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
San Mateo Public Library serves 107,057 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 269K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
282,592 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 Mateo last year.
3 places to borrow in San Mateo
San Mateo Public Library, 55 West Third Ave., San Mateo.
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 Mateo? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in San Mateo
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average San Mateo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.9M 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 81,266 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlingame | Burlingame Main Library fine-free | 17.0 | 59 | A− |
| San Mateo | San Mateo Public Library fine-free | 9.8 | 60 | C |
| Foster City | Foster City Library fine-free | — | 57 | C− |
| Belmont | Belmont Library fine-free | — | 57 | C |
| Hillsborough | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Baywood Park | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Highlands | 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 Mateo
Does San Mateo have a public library?
Yes. San Mateo Public Library, 55 West Third Ave., serves San Mateo’s 107,057 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is San Mateo 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 Mateo’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is San Mateo’s civic life grade?
C San Mateo is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #205 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 Mateo.
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.