Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Smyrna’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Smyrna Public Library serves Smyrna’s 39,824 residents. Last year it lent 82K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
Smyrna’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Smyrna Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Smyrna Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Smyrna Public Library offered 244 programs last year, 6.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Delaware pays a big share
22% of the budget comes from the state, and 76% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Smyrna Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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 Smyrna’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Smyrna is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #9 of 22 in Delaware. Smyrna is graded on two of the three inputs. Smyrna’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 ($50K–$84K) 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 →
52 community nonprofits are registered in Smyrna
3.9 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Smyrna’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Delaware 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 Smyrna’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Smyrna Public Library serves 39,824 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
82K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
18,210 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Smyrna last year.
Find it
Smyrna Public Library, 107 South Main Street, Smyrna.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Smyrna? 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 $2.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smyrna cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $471K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $471K 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 6,776 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smyrna | Smyrna Public Library | 2.1 | 49 | C+ |
| Clayton | None of its own | — | — | C |
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 Smyrna
Does Smyrna have a public library?
Yes. Smyrna Public Library, 107 South Main Street, serves Smyrna’s 39,824 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Smyrna Public 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 Smyrna’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Smyrna’s civic life grade?
C+ Smyrna is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 of 22 in Delaware. 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 Smyrna.
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.