Photo: Bluesnote · CC BY-SA 4.0Thousand Palms’ library is a branch of Riverside County Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Thousand Palms’s library is the Thousand Palms Library, a branch of Riverside County Library System, which serves 1,381,045 people and lent 3M items last year.
The short version on Thousand Palms’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, the Riverside County Library System sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
California pays a big share
32% of the budget comes from the state, and 67% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 64% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Thousand Palms’s library is a branch of Riverside County Library System, so they cover the whole system (1,381,045 people), not just the Thousand Palms branch.
What’s behind Thousand Palms’ civic life grade
Thousand Palms 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 Riverside County Library System, 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 Thousand Palms
Thousand Palms is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
3.3%
3.3% of Thousand Palms’ 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 Palms’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Riverside County Library System serves 1,381,045 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Riverside County Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Riverside County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
343,932 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 88 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
Thousand Palms Library, 31-189 Robert Rd., Thousand Palms.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Riverside County Library System branch.
New in Thousand Palms? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Thousand Palms cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 387,781 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thousand Palms | Thousand Palms Library fine-free | — | 37 | — unincorporated |
| Palm Desert | Palm Desert Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | C |
| Cathedral City | Cathedral City Branch Library fine-free | — | 42 | D− |
| Desert Palms | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sky Valley | 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.
- System-wide. Thousand Palms Library is one branch of Riverside County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,381,045 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 Thousand Palms
Does Thousand Palms have a public library?
Yes: Thousand Palms Library, 31-189 Robert Rd., is a branch of Riverside County Library System, which serves 1,381,045 people. The branch is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Riverside County Library System 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 Palms’ library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Thousand Palms’ civic life grade?
Thousand Palms 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 Riverside County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Thousand Palms.
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.