Photo: Coolsheep2 · CC BY-SA 4.0Santa Ana’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Santa Ana Public Library serves Santa Ana’s 310,797 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 223K books, movies and e-books and logged 111K visits.
Santa Ana’s library, in brief
Santa Ana Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Santa Ana Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 94% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Four places to borrow in Santa Ana
Santa Ana Public Library runs four 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 Santa Ana’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Santa Ana has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #381. Santa Ana’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
Santa Ana’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$117K) 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 →
490 community nonprofits are registered in Santa Ana
1.6 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 (259 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 44 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.8%
2.8% of Santa Ana’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 Santa Ana’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Santa Ana Public Library serves 310,797 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
223K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 128K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
61,898 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Santa Ana last year.
5 places to borrow in Santa Ana
Santa Ana Public Library, 26 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Santa Ana? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Santa Ana
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Santa Ana cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $8.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $8.1M 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 205,413 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | Orange Public Library & History Center fine-free | 4.7 | 51 | C− |
| Santa Ana | Santa Ana Public Library fine-free | 0.7 | 54 | D− |
| Tustin | Tustin Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Garden Grove | Garden Grove Main Library fine-free | — | 60 | D− |
| Fountain Valley | Fountain Valley Branch Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
| Costa Mesa | Costa Mesa Branch Library fine-free | — | 60 | C− |
| Irvine | Heritage Park Branch Library fine-free | — | 64 | C+ |
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 are a typical-week estimate. Santa Ana Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Santa Ana
Does Santa Ana have a public library?
Yes. Santa Ana Public Library, 26 Civic Center Plaza, serves Santa Ana’s 310,797 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Santa Ana’s civic life grade?
D− Santa Ana has fewer library visits and 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 Santa Ana.
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.