Photo: Bob Doran from Arcata, USA · CC BY 2.0Willow Creek’s library is a branch of Humboldt County Library, which lends less per resident than 59% of systems its size
Willow Creek’s library is the Willow Creek (Klamath-Trinity) Library, a branch of Humboldt County Library, which serves 133,100 people and lent 494K items last year.
Willow Creek’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
122,767 cards for 133,100 people, or 92%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
The Willow Creek branch keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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; Willow Creek’s library is a branch of Humboldt County Library, so they cover the whole system (133,100 people), not just the Willow Creek branch.
What’s behind Willow Creek’s civic life grade
Willow Creek isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Humboldt County Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Willow Creek
Willow Creek is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
10.7%
10.7% of Willow Creek’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 Willow Creek’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Humboldt County Library serves 133,100 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Humboldt County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
494K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
132,526 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 18 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
Willow Creek (Klamath-Trinity) Library, 39 Mayfair St., Willow Creek.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Humboldt County Library branch.
New in Willow Creek? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Willow Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.9M 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 122,767 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willow Creek | Willow Creek (Klamath-Trinity) Library fine-free | — | 18 | — unincorporated |
| Salyer | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Willow Creek (Klamath-Trinity) Library is one branch of Humboldt County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 133,100 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 Willow Creek
Does Willow Creek have a public library?
Yes: Willow Creek (Klamath-Trinity) Library, 39 Mayfair St., is a branch of Humboldt County Library, which serves 133,100 people. The branch is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Humboldt 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 Willow Creek’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Willow Creek’s civic life grade?
Willow Creek isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Humboldt County Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Willow Creek.
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.