Photo: The original uploader was Griffin5 at English Wikipedia. · Public domainWest Sacramento’s library is a branch of Yolo County Library, which lends more per resident than 88% of systems its size
West Sacramento’s library is the A. F. Turner Community Library, a branch of Yolo County Library, which serves 160,994 people and lent 1.5M items last year.
What stands out about A. F. Turner Community Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind West Sacramento’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, West Sacramento is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #258 of 448 in California. West Sacramento is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
127 community nonprofits are registered in West Sacramento
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (39 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of West Sacramento’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 West Sacramento’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.5M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
264,300 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Yolo County Library serves 160,994 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 118 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Yolo County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 20 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
A. F. Turner Community Library, 1212 Merkley Avenue, West Sacramento.
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 Yolo County Library branch.
New in West Sacramento? 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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average West Sacramento cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 52,149 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Sacramento | A. F. Turner Community Library fine-free | — | 43 | D |
| Sacramento | Sacramento Central Library fine-free | — | 39 | C+ |
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. A. F. Turner Community Library is one branch of Yolo County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 160,994 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 West Sacramento
Does West Sacramento have a public library?
Yes: A. F. Turner Community Library, 1212 Merkley Avenue, is a branch of Yolo County Library, which serves 160,994 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Yolo County 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 West Sacramento’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is West Sacramento’s civic life grade?
D West Sacramento is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #258 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 West Sacramento.
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.