Photo: Niceley · CC BY-SA 4.0Thousand Oaks’ library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Thousand Oaks Library serves Thousand Oaks’s 122,643 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 969K books, movies and e-books and logged 463K visits.
What Thousand Oaks’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Thousand Oaks last year. Kids & programs ↓
People come to Thousand Oaks’s library system a lot
Thousand Oaks’s library system logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 6.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Thousand Oaks invests in its library
Thousand Oaks’s library system spends $78 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Thousand Oaks’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Thousand Oaks is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #119 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #59. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Thousand Oaks’ 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 →
547 community nonprofits are registered in Thousand Oaks
4.4 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 (128 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 26 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Thousand Oaks’ 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 Thousand Oaks’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 169 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Thousand Oaks Library serves 122,643 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
969K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 352K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.2 times last year, on average.
192,513 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Thousand Oaks last year.
2 places to borrow in Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Rd., Thousand Oaks.
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 Thousand Oaks? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Thousand Oaks
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Thousand Oaks cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.6M 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 53,234 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Thousand Oaks borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thousand Oaks | Thousand Oaks Library fine-free | 7.9 | 58 | B |
| Camarillo | Camarillo Public Library fine-free | 7.7 | 59 | B− |
| Simi Valley | Simi Valley Public Library fine-free | 3.1 | 56 | C− |
| Oak Park | Oak Park Library fine-free | — | 36 | — unincorporated |
| Westlake Village | Westlake Village Library fine-free | — | 40 | B |
| Santa Rosa Valley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lake Sherwood | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- 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 Thousand Oaks
Does Thousand Oaks have a public library?
Yes. Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Rd., serves Thousand Oaks’ 122,643 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Thousand Oaks 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 Thousand Oaks’ library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 7.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Thousand Oaks’ civic life grade?
B Thousand Oaks is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #119 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 Thousand Oaks.
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.