Photo: Rockero at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Upland’s library runs 4.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Ontario City Library serves Upland’s 181,224 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 447K books, movies and e-books and logged 254K visits.
What Upland’s library is like
Open about 64 hours a week
The main library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out. The buildings ↓
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 63% 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.
What’s behind Upland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Upland is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns, #267 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Upland’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($79K–$132K) 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 →
247 community nonprofits are registered in Upland
3.1 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 (87 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Upland’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 Upland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ontario City Library serves 181,224 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
447K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 246K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
83,393 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Upland last year.
3 places to borrow in Upland
Ovitt Family Community Library, 215 East C Street, Ontario.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Upland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Upland
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Upland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7.1M 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 108,603 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Upland ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Cucamonga | Paul A. Biane Library fine-free | 3.9 | 44 | D |
| Upland | Ovitt Family Community Library | 2.5 | 64 | D |
| Ontario | Ovitt Family Community Library | 2.5 | 64 | D− |
| Montclair | Montclair Branch Library | — | 15 | D− |
| San Antonio Heights | 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 Upland
Does Upland have a public library?
Yes. Ontario City Library, 215 East C Street, serves Upland’s 181,224 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ontario City 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 Upland’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Upland’s civic life grade?
D Upland is ahead of 13% of U.S. towns on civic life, #267 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 Upland.
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.