Angell-Ballou House · Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 3.0Smithfield’s library lends 8.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Greenville Public Library serves Smithfield’s 12,642 residents. Last year it lent 135K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
The short version on Smithfield’s library
Above typical on nearly every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Greenville Public Library is above the middle on six of the seven per-resident measures we compare, and close to it on the other, with five in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
Smithfield out-borrows every town next door
At 10.6 loans per resident, Smithfield leads the eight towns here. The closest is Greenville, at 10.6. Libraries next door ↓
Smithfield invests in its library
Greenville Public Library spends $95 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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 Smithfield’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Smithfield is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #29 of 38 in Rhode Island. Smithfield is graded on two of the three inputs. Smithfield’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 ($77K–$128K) 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 →
89 community nonprofits are registered in Smithfield
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.3%
5.3% of Smithfield’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.4% in the typical Rhode Island 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 Smithfield’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
135K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 67K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
31,579 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Greenville Public Library serves 12,642 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 5 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 Smithfield last year.
2 places to borrow in Smithfield
Greenville Public Library, 573 Putnam Pike, Smithfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Smithfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Smithfield
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.78 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smithfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 6,078 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Smithfield borrows the most per resident of the 8 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | C |
| Greenville | Greenville Public Library | 10.6 | 59 | — graded as part of its town |
| Lincoln | Lincoln Public Library fine-free | 9.0 | 59 | C+ |
| Glocester | Harmony Library | 5.5 | 37 | B+ |
| Harmony | Harmony Library | 5.5 | 37 | — graded as part of its town |
| North Providence | Mayor Salvatore Mancini Union Free Library fine-free | 4.9 | 55 | D |
| North Smithfield | North Smithfield Public Library fine-free | 4.5 | 47 | C |
| Johnston | Marian J. Mohr Memorial Library fine-free | 2.4 | 57 | D− |
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 Smithfield
Does Smithfield have a public library?
Yes. Greenville Public Library, 573 Putnam Pike, serves Smithfield’s 12,642 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 59 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Greenville 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 Smithfield’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Smithfield’s civic life grade?
C Smithfield is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 of 38 in Rhode Island. 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 Smithfield.
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.