Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, Whittier · Photo: Los Angeles · CC BY-SA 4.0Whittier’s library lends 2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Whittier Public Library serves Whittier’s 87,527 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 222K books, movies and e-books and logged 165K visits.
The short version on Whittier’s library
Nearly everyone in Whittier has a card
75,647 cards for 87,527 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 64% 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 Whittier’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Whittier is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns, #296 of 448 in California. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Whittier’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
243 community nonprofits are registered in Whittier
2.8 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 (81 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 21 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.8%
3.8% of Whittier’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 Whittier’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Whittier Public Library serves 87,527 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 42 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
222K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 272K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
50,637 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Whittier last year.
2 places to borrow in Whittier
Whittier Public Library, 7344 S. Washington Ave., Whittier.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Whittier? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Whittier
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Whittier cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 75,647 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Fe Springs | Santa Fe Springs City Library fine-free | 7.6 | 53 | C |
| Whittier | Whittier Public Library fine-free | 2.5 | 51 | D |
| West Whittier-Los Nietos | Sorensen Library fine-free | — | 57 | — unincorporated |
| South Whittier | South Whittier Library fine-free | — | 56 | — unincorporated |
| Pico Rivera | Pico Rivera Library fine-free | — | 40 | D− |
| Hacienda Heights | Hacienda Heights Library fine-free | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| La Habra Heights | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| East Whittier | 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 Whittier
Does Whittier have a public library?
Yes. Whittier Public Library, 7344 S. Washington Ave., serves Whittier’s 87,527 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Whittier 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 Whittier’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Whittier’s civic life grade?
D Whittier is ahead of 10% of U.S. towns on civic life, #296 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 Whittier.
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.