Photo: Tricia Simpson · CC BY-SA 3.0American Fork’s library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
American Fork City Library serves American Fork’s 38,549 residents. Last year it lent 561K books, movies and e-books and logged 248K visits.
American Fork’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 68% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in American Fork last year. Kids & programs ↓
American Fork uses its library more than almost any town its size
American Fork City Library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 9.8 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
American Fork out-borrows every town next door
At 15 loans per resident, American Fork leads the four towns here. The closest is Highland, at 13. Libraries next door ↓
Programs draw a crowd
37,000 people came to the library’s 715 programs last year: 1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. 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 American Fork’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, American Fork is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #16 of 106 in Utah. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
126 community nonprofits are registered in American Fork
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of American Fork’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Utah 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 American Fork’s residents live; 2022.
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 American Fork last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
American Fork City Library serves 38,549 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 169 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
561K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 88K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.3 times last year, on average.
184,645 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
American Fork City Library, 64 South 100 East, American Fork.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in American Fork? 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 $6.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average American Fork cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 24,084 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
American Fork borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Fork | American Fork City Library fine-free | 14.6 | 64 | B− |
| Highland | Highland City Library | 13.4 | 48 | D |
| Pleasant Grove | Pleasant Grove Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | — | C− |
| Lehi | Lehi City Public Library fine-free | 9.5 | 53 | C |
| Cedar Hills | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Lindon | None of its own | — | — | 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 American Fork
Does American Fork have a public library?
Yes. American Fork City Library, 64 South 100 East, serves American Fork’s 38,549 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is American Fork City Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is American Fork’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 14.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is American Fork’s civic life grade?
B− American Fork is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #16 of 106 in Utah. 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 American Fork.
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.