Sacramento Central Library
Sacramento’s library is the Sacramento Central Library, a branch of Sacramento Public Library, which serves 1,490,915 people and lent 8.7M items last year.
What stands out about Sacramento Central Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
A National Register landmark since 1992
Sacramento Central Library, 828 I Street, Sacramento.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sacramento Public Library branch.
New in Sacramento? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Sacramento City Library
Sacramento City Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 30, 1992. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Italian Renaissance. It was listed as part of California Carnegie Libraries MPS.
The Sacramento City Library, also known as Central Branch, is part of the Sacramento Public Library system, and faces I Street in Sacramento, California near Sacramento City Hall.
More about the building →Other Sacramento Public Library branches in Sacramento
51% of borrowing is digital
8.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,424,815 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sacramento cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $57M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $127M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57M 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 858,125 cardholders ÷ 12.
Every hour the doors are open, about 161 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sacramento Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Strongest at digital borrowing
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Sacramento Public Library serves 1,490,915 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
About 55 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento | Sacramento Central Library fine-free | — | 39 |
| Arden-Arcade | Arden-Dimick Library fine-free | — | 39 |
| West Sacramento | A. F. Turner Community Library fine-free | — | 43 |
| Florin | Southgate Library fine-free | — | 39 |
| Lemon Hill | None of its own | — | — |
| McClellan Park | None of its own | — | — |
| North Highlands | None of its own | — | — |
| Fruitridge Pocket | None of its own | — | — |
| Parkway | None of its own | — | — |
| Freeport | None of its own | — | — |
| Rosemont | None of its own | — | — |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Sacramento Central Library is one branch of Sacramento Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,490,915 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Sacramento.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.