Photo: Dennis Bratland · CC BY-SA 4.0Urbandale’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Urbandale Public Library serves Urbandale’s 45,944 residents. Last year it lent 415K print books and media and logged 195K visits.
What Urbandale’s library is like
More library cards than residents
48,055 cards for 45,944 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Urbandale Public Library charges late fines on some overdue items. Three of the four libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
Urbandale out-borrows every town next door
At 9 loans per resident, Urbandale leads the five towns here. The closest is Clive, at 9. Libraries next door ↓
Open about 70 hours a week
Urbandale Public Library is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Urbandale last year. 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 Urbandale’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Urbandale is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns, #87 of 138 in Iowa. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
195 community nonprofits are registered in Urbandale
4.2 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 (41 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 13 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.5%
8.5% of Urbandale’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Urbandale’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Urbandale Public Library serves 45,944 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
415K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 148K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
About 9 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 Urbandale last year.
Find it
Urbandale Public Library, 3520 86th St., Urbandale.
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 $2.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Urbandale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.8M 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 48,055 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Urbandale borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urbandale | Urbandale Public Library | 9.0 | 70 | B+ |
| Clive | Clive Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 69 | C+ |
| Johnston | Johnston Public Library | 8.8 | 63 | A− |
| Grimes | Grimes Public Library fine-free | 7.6 | 64 | B+ |
| Des Moines | Des Moines Public Library fine-free | 3.8 | 62 | B+ |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Urbandale
Does Urbandale have a public library?
Yes. Urbandale Public Library, 3520 86th St., serves Urbandale’s 45,944 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 70 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Urbandale Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Urbandale’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 9.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Urbandale’s civic life grade?
B+ Urbandale is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns on civic life, #87 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Urbandale.
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.