Photo: NoeHill · CC BY-SA 3.0Willows’ library logs 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Willows Public Library serves 12,663 people in and around Willows. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,053 visits.
What Willows’s library is like
Willows Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Willows Public Library records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $23 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
99% of the 175 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
72% of the people it serves carry a library card
9,113 cards for 12,663 people, or 72%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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; Willows Public Library serves 12,663 people in and around Willows, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Willows’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Willows is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #70 of 448 in California. Willows is graded on two of the three inputs. Willows’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 community nonprofits are registered in Willows
8.2 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Willows’ 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 Willows’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Willows Public Library serves 12,663 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Willows Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,331 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 3 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
Willows Public Library, 201 N. Lassen St., Willows.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Willows Public Library branch.
New in Willows? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Willows cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $293K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $206K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $293K 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 9,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Willows Public Library serves 12,663 people in and around Willows, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Willows.
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 Willows
Does Willows have a public library?
Yes. Willows Public Library, 201 N. Lassen St., serves 12,663 people in and around Willows (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Willows Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Willows’ library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Willows’ civic life grade?
A− Willows is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #70 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 Willows.
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.