Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome · Photo: Richard Wang took this photo and has released it under the GDFL. · CC BY-SA 3.0Santa Monica’s library lends 7.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Santa Monica Public Library serves Santa Monica’s 92,912 residents from 5 locations. Last year it lent 905K books, movies and e-books and logged 311K visits.
The short version on Santa Monica’s library
Santa Monica invests in its library
Santa Monica Public Library spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
64% of the 693 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 184 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Five places to borrow in Santa Monica
Santa Monica Public Library runs five 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 Monica’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Santa Monica is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #93 of 448 in California. Santa Monica’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
636 community nonprofits are registered in Santa Monica
7.0 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 (108 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 34 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Santa Monica’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 Monica’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.25 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Santa Monica cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M 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 49,375 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Santa Monica Public Library serves 92,912 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 170 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
905K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 335K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
221,812 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Monica last year.
5 places to borrow in Santa Monica
Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica.
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 Monica? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Santa Monica
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica | Santa Monica Public Library fine-free | 9.7 | 29 | B+ |
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | 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 Monica
Does Santa Monica have a public library?
Yes. Santa Monica Public Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd, serves Santa Monica’s 92,912 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Santa Monica 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 Monica’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 9.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Santa Monica’s civic life grade?
B+ Santa Monica is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #93 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 Monica.
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.