Photo: Mark Miller · CC BY-SA 3.0South Lake Tahoe’s library is a branch of El Dorado County Library, which lends more per resident than 53% of systems its size
South Lake Tahoe’s library is the South Lake Tahoe Library, a branch of El Dorado County Library, which serves 188,583 people and lent 779K items last year.
What stands out about South Lake Tahoe Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind South Lake Tahoe’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, South Lake Tahoe is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #134 of 448 in California. South Lake Tahoe is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; South Lake Tahoe’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
60 community nonprofits are registered in South Lake Tahoe
2.8 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.9%
9.9% of South Lake Tahoe’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 South Lake Tahoe’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
El Dorado County Library serves 188,583 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 70 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole El Dorado County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
779K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
150,006 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
South Lake Tahoe Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., South Lake Tahoe.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every El Dorado County Library branch.
New in South Lake Tahoe? 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 $3.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average South Lake Tahoe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 108,650 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Lake Tahoe | South Lake Tahoe Library | — | 38 | B |
| Stateline | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. South Lake Tahoe Library is one branch of El Dorado County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 188,583 people it serves.
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 South Lake Tahoe
Does South Lake Tahoe have a public library?
Yes: South Lake Tahoe Library, 1000 Rufus Allen Blvd., is a branch of El Dorado County Library, which serves 188,583 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is El Dorado County Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is South Lake Tahoe’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is South Lake Tahoe’s civic life grade?
B South Lake Tahoe is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #134 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 South Lake Tahoe.
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.