Sunnyvale’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Doris Padgett Library serves 8,486 people in and around Sunnyvale. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
The short version on Sunnyvale’s library
Nearly everyone in Sunnyvale has a card
8,297 cards for 8,486 people, or 98%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 77% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Sunnyvale out-borrows every town next door
At 5.1 loans per resident, Sunnyvale leads the four towns here. The closest is Dallas, at 4.4. Libraries next door ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Doris Padgett Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 88 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 47 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Sunnyvale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sunnyvale is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns, #230 of 539 in Texas. Sunnyvale’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($128K–$213K) 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 →
42 community nonprofits are registered in Sunnyvale
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (20 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.1%
5.1% of Sunnyvale’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Sunnyvale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Doris Padgett Library serves 8,486 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
3,416 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Doris Padgett Library, 402 Tower Pl, Sunnyvale.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sunnyvale? 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 $2.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sunnyvale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $602K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 8,297 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sunnyvale borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Sunnyvale
Does Sunnyvale have a public library?
Yes. Doris Padgett Library, 402 Tower Pl, serves 8,486 people in and around Sunnyvale (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Doris Padgett Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sunnyvale’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sunnyvale’s civic life grade?
C Sunnyvale is ahead of 32% of U.S. towns on civic life, #230 of 539 in Texas. 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 Sunnyvale.
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.