Ash Mountain Entrance Sign · Photo: Brian C. Grogan · Public domainThree Rivers’ library is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which lends less per resident than 95% of systems its size
Three Rivers’s library is the Three Rivers Library, a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which serves 345,185 people and lent 356K items last year.
What Three Rivers’s library is like
The Tulare County Free Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Tulare County Free Library system records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 41% for its size. 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; Three Rivers’s library is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, so they cover the whole system (345,185 people), not just the Three Rivers branch.
What’s behind Three Rivers’ civic life grade
Three Rivers 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 Tulare County Free 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 Three Rivers
Three Rivers is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
9.4%
9.4% of Three Rivers’ 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 Three Rivers’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Tulare County Free Library serves 345,185 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tulare County Free Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
356K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
107,625 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 27 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
Three Rivers Library, 42052 Eggers Dr., Three Rivers.
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 Tulare County Free Library branch.
New in Three Rivers? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Three Rivers cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.6M 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 26,103 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Three Rivers Library is one branch of Tulare County Free Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 345,185 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 Three Rivers
Does Three Rivers have a public library?
Yes: Three Rivers Library, 42052 Eggers Dr., is a branch of Tulare County Free Library, which serves 345,185 people. The branch is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tulare County Free 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 Three Rivers’ library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Three Rivers’ civic life grade?
Three Rivers 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 Tulare County Free Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Three Rivers.
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.