Photo: Brittneal · CC BY-SA 4.0Shafter’s library runs 107 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Shafter Library serves Shafter’s 22,226 residents. Last year it lent 27K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
What Shafter’s library is like
Shafter Library is used less than most libraries its size
Shafter Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Shafter Library ran 2,369 programs last year, about 46 a week. That’s 107 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 85% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 68% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 2,369 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 9.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Shafter’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Shafter is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns, #381 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Shafter’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Shafter’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 ($53K–$89K) 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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Shafter
2.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.8%
2.8% of Shafter’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 Shafter’s residents live; 2022.
About 39 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 Shafter last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Shafter Library serves 22,226 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Shafter Library and Learning Center
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
27K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
452 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Shafter Library and Learning Center, 236 James Street, Suite 2, Shafter.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Shafter? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shafter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $838K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $518K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $838K 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 2,994 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Shafter 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 Shafter
Does Shafter have a public library?
Yes. Shafter Library, 236 James Street, Suite 2, serves Shafter’s 22,226 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shafter Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Shafter’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Shafter’s civic life grade?
D− Shafter is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns on civic life, #381 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 Shafter.
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.