Sutter’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Sutter. Last year it lent 243K print books and media and logged 100K visits.
What Sutter’s library is like
Open only about 12 hours a week
The Sutter branch keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
California pays a big share
21% of the budget comes from the state, and 61% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Sutter County Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.4 print items per resident. 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; Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Sutter, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sutter’s civic life grade
Sutter isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Sutter County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Sutter
Sutter is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.6%
6.6% of Sutter’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 Sutter’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 66 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sutter County Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
243K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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
Sutter Branch Library, 2147 California St., Sutter.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sutter County Library branch.
New in Sutter? 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 $2.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sutter cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 37,214 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Sutter County Library serves 100,110 people in and around Sutter, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sutter.
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 Sutter
Does Sutter have a public library?
Yes. Sutter County Library, 2147 California St., serves 100,110 people in and around Sutter (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sutter 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 Sutter’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sutter’s civic life grade?
Sutter isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Sutter County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sutter.
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.