Photo: Peeweejd · CC BY-SA 3.0Beaver’s library lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Beaver Public Library serves Beaver’s 4,459 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,357 visits.
What Beaver’s library is like
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 70%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Beaver City Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Today’s library there has 4,208 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 151 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Beaver’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Beaver is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns, #59 of 106 in Utah. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Beaver’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Beaver’s 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($57K–$95K) 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Beaver
3.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Beaver’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 Beaver’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
9,832 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Beaver Public Library serves 4,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Beaver last year.
A National Register landmark since 1983
Beaver Public Library, 55 West Center Street, Beaver.
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 Beaver? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Beaver City Library
Beaver City Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 15, 1983. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Colonial Revival and Federalist Revival. It was listed as part of Beaver MRA.
The Beaver City Library in Beaver, Utah was built around 1917. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is a brick Carnegie library.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beaver cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $198K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $876K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $198K 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 2,782 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Beaver Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Beaver
Does Beaver have a public library?
Yes. Beaver Public Library, 55 West Center Street, serves Beaver’s 4,459 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaver Public 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 Beaver’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Beaver’s civic life grade?
C− Beaver is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns on civic life, #59 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 Beaver.
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.