Photo: Telecineguy · CC BY-SA 3.0Sierra Madre’s library lends 7.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sierra Madre Public Library serves Sierra Madre’s 10,909 residents. Last year it lent 92K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
Sierra Madre’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Sierra Madre last year. Kids & programs ↓
72% of Sierra Madre carry a library card
7,882 cards for 10,909 people, or 72%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Sierra Madre’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sierra Madre is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #56 of 448 in California. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sierra Madre’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
75 community nonprofits are registered in Sierra Madre
6.9 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 (16 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.
9.0%
9.0% of Sierra Madre’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 Sierra Madre’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Sierra Madre last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sierra Madre Public Library serves 10,909 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 45 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: public computers. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
92K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
14,836 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sierra Madre Public Library, 440 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre.
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 Sierra Madre? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sierra Madre cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $720K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $720K 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 7,882 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sierra Madre ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. 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.
- Not reported for 2024: public computers. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Sierra Madre 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 Sierra Madre
Does Sierra Madre have a public library?
Yes. Sierra Madre Public Library, 440 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., serves Sierra Madre’s 10,909 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sierra Madre 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 Sierra Madre’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sierra Madre’s civic life grade?
A− Sierra Madre is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #56 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 Sierra Madre.
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.