Photo: Mike Greene · CC BY-SA 2.0Signal Hill’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Signal Hill Public Library serves Signal Hill’s 11,448 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 155K visits.
What Signal Hill’s library is like
Top 10% in California for library use
Signal Hill ranks #7 of 116 California towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 13 visits per resident, more than at 99% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 2% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 94% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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 Signal Hill’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Signal Hill is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #101 of 448 in California. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Signal Hill
4.2 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Signal Hill’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 Signal Hill’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Signal Hill Public Library serves 11,448 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
1,030 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Signal Hill last year.
Find it
Signal Hill Public Library, 1800 East Hill Street, Signal Hill.
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 Signal Hill? 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 $1.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Signal Hill cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $799K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $983K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $799K 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 2,944 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Signal Hill
Does Signal Hill have a public library?
Yes. Signal Hill Public Library, 1800 East Hill Street, serves Signal Hill’s 11,448 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Signal Hill 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 Signal Hill’s library?
It logged 13.5 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Signal Hill’s civic life grade?
B+ Signal Hill is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #101 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 Signal Hill.
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.