Photo: Thurifer · CC BY-SA 4.0Torrance’s library lends 5.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Torrance Public Library serves Torrance’s 142,910 residents from 6 locations. Last year it lent 824K books, movies and e-books and logged 328K visits.
The short version on Torrance’s library
California pays a big share
27% of the budget comes from the state, and 57% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Six places to borrow in Torrance
Torrance Public Library runs six locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Torrance’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Torrance is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #216 of 448 in California. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #188. Torrance’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($87K–$145K) 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 →
585 community nonprofits are registered in Torrance
4.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (226 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 60 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Torrance’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 Torrance’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Torrance Public Library serves 142,910 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
824K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 435K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.7 times last year, on average.
76,653 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 Torrance last year.
7 places to borrow in Torrance
Katy Geissert Civic Center Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd., Torrance.
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 Torrance? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Torrance
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Torrance cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 29,348 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Torrance ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Central Library fine-free | 6.7 | 57 | D |
| Torrance | Katy Geissert Civic Center Library fine-free | 5.8 | 45 | C |
| Redondo Beach | Redondo Beach Public Library | 5.5 | 46 | B− |
| Rolling Hills Estates | Peninsula Center Library fine-free | — | 52 | B+ |
| Lomita | Lomita Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
| Lawndale | Lawndale Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Gardena | Gardena Mayme Dear Library fine-free | — | 40 | D |
| Palos Verdes Estates | Malaga Cove Library fine-free | — | 40 | B+ |
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 Torrance
Does Torrance have a public library?
Yes. Torrance Public Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd., serves Torrance’s 142,910 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Torrance 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 Torrance’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Torrance’s civic life grade?
C Torrance is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #216 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 Torrance.
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.