Photo: Nicolasam · CC BY-SA 3.0Walnut Grove’s library is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which lends less per resident than 57% of systems its size
Walnut Grove’s library is the Walnut Grove Library, a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which serves 1,490,915 people and lent 8.7M items last year.
What Walnut Grove’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
The Sacramento Public Library system offered 4,436 programs last year, 3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 78% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%, much of it kids’ books. 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; Walnut Grove’s library is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, so they cover the whole system (1,490,915 people), not just the Walnut Grove branch.
What’s behind Walnut Grove’s civic life grade
Walnut Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
51% of borrowing is digital
8.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,424,815 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sacramento Public Library serves 1,490,915 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 161 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sacramento Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 55 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
Walnut Grove Library, 14177 Market St., Walnut Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sacramento Public Library branch.
New in Walnut Grove? 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 $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Walnut Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $57M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57M 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 858,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Walnut Grove Library is one branch of Sacramento Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,490,915 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 Walnut Grove
Does Walnut Grove have a public library?
Yes: Walnut Grove Library, 14177 Market St., is a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which serves 1,490,915 people. The branch is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sacramento 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 Walnut Grove’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Walnut Grove’s civic life grade?
Walnut Grove isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Walnut Grove.
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.