Photo: JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0Santa Clara’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Santa Clara City Library serves Santa Clara’s 132,048 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 1.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 600K visits.
The short version on Santa Clara’s library
Santa Clara uses its library more than almost any town its size
Santa Clara City Library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 12 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 95% 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 70% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 50 items per child in Santa Clara last year. Kids & programs ↓
Top 10% in California for kids’ borrowing
Santa Clara ranks #5 of 117 California towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
67,000 people came to the library’s 1,528 programs last year: 0.5 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Three places to borrow in Santa Clara
Santa Clara City 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 Santa Clara’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Santa Clara is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #191 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #149. 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 ($134K–$224K) 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 →
424 community nonprofits are registered in Santa Clara
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (109 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 36 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Santa Clara’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 Clara’s residents live; 2022.
About 18 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 Clara last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Santa Clara City Library serves 132,048 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 424 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 448K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.6 times last year, on average.
255,539 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Santa Clara
Santa Clara City Library - Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara.
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 Santa Clara? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Santa Clara
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Santa Clara cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $11M 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 56,422 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Santa Clara borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Santa Clara
Does Santa Clara have a public library?
Yes. Santa Clara City Library, 2635 Homestead Road, serves Santa Clara’s 132,048 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Clara City 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 Clara’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 14.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Santa Clara’s civic life grade?
C Santa Clara is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #191 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 Santa Clara.
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.