Clarke Estate · Photo: Northwalker · CC0Santa Fe Springs’ library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Santa Fe Springs City Library serves Santa Fe Springs’s 18,640 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 142K books, movies and e-books and logged 105K visits.
The short version on Santa Fe Springs’s library
More library cards than residents
49,475 cards for 18,640 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 ↓
Santa Fe Springs out-borrows every town next door
At 7.6 loans per resident, Santa Fe Springs leads the four towns here. The closest is Cerritos, at 4.6. Libraries next door ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 571 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Santa Fe Springs invests in its library
Santa Fe Springs City Library spends $120 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. 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 Santa Fe Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Santa Fe Springs is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #203 of 448 in California. 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 ($66K–$110K) 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 →
56 community nonprofits are registered in Santa Fe Springs
3.0 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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.6%
2.6% of Santa Fe Springs’ 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 Fe Springs’ residents live; 2022.
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.
Santa Fe Springs City Library serves 18,640 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
142K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 55K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
14,829 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 Santa Fe Springs last year.
2 places to borrow in Santa Fe Springs
Santa Fe Springs City Library, 11700 E. Telegraph Rd., Santa Fe Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Santa Fe Springs? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Santa Fe Springs
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.00 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Santa Fe Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.2M 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 49,475 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Santa Fe Springs borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe Springs | Santa Fe Springs City Library fine-free | 7.6 | 53 | C |
| Cerritos | Cerritos Library | 4.6 | 50 | B |
| Whittier | Whittier Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 51 | D |
| Downey | Downey City Library | 1.6 | 54 | D |
| West Whittier-Los Nietos | Sorensen Library fine-free | — | 57 | — unincorporated |
| South Whittier | South Whittier Library fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| Norwalk | Norwalk Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Pico Rivera | Pico Rivera Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| La Mirada | La Mirada Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
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 Fe Springs
Does Santa Fe Springs have a public library?
Yes. Santa Fe Springs City Library, 11700 E. Telegraph Rd., serves Santa Fe Springs’ 18,640 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Fe Springs 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 Fe Springs’ library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Santa Fe Springs’ civic life grade?
C Santa Fe Springs is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #203 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 Fe Springs.
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.