Photo: The Sands of Time 0 · CC BY-SA 4.0Sunnyvale’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Sunnyvale Public Library serves Sunnyvale’s 157,566 residents. Last year it lent 1.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 389K visits.
The short version on Sunnyvale’s library
More library cards than residents
173,700 cards for 157,566 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 30 items per child in Sunnyvale last year. Kids & programs ↓
Sunnyvale is a town of borrowers
Sunnyvale Public Library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 5 times last year. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 287,000 items on the shelves went out about 5 times last year, on average. 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 Sunnyvale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunnyvale is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #272 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #260. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($140K–$233K) 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 →
341 community nonprofits are registered in Sunnyvale
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (85 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 32 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Sunnyvale’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 Sunnyvale’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Sunnyvale last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sunnyvale Public Library serves 157,566 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Sunnyvale Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. 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
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 287K books and other items on the shelves went out about 5 times last year, on average.
340,943 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sunnyvale Public Library, 665 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale.
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 Sunnyvale? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sunnyvale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $11M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25M 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 173,700 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sunnyvale ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain View | Mountain View Public Library fine-free | 16.0 | 62 | C+ |
| Santa Clara | Santa Clara City Library - Central Park Library fine-free | 14.0 | 28 | C |
| Sunnyvale | Sunnyvale Public Library fine-free | 11.2 | — | D |
| San Jose | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library | 8.2 | 69 | C− |
| Cupertino | Cupertino Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Los Altos | Los Altos Library fine-free | — | 68 | B+ |
| Fremont | Fremont Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C |
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: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Sunnyvale
Does Sunnyvale have a public library?
Yes. Sunnyvale Public Library, 665 W. Olive Ave., serves Sunnyvale’s 157,566 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Sunnyvale 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 Sunnyvale’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 11.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sunnyvale’s civic life grade?
D Sunnyvale is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #272 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 Sunnyvale.
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.