Cedar City Railroad Depot · Photo: JunesongPRVSN · CC BY-SA 4.0Cedar City’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Cedar City Public Library serves Cedar City’s 39,942 residents. Last year it lent 365K books, movies and e-books and logged 222K visits.
The short version on Cedar City’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Cedar City Public Library spends $21 per resident, less than 79% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). It’s still busier than 76% of them. What your card is worth ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
People come to Cedar City Public Library a lot
Cedar City Public Library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 339 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Cedar City Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out. The building ↓
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 Cedar City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Cedar City is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #7 of 106 in Utah. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Cedar City’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
110 community nonprofits are registered in Cedar City
2.9 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Cedar City’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 Cedar City’s residents live; 2022.
45% of borrowing is digital
365K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 94K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
163,653 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Cedar City Public Library serves 39,942 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 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 Cedar City last year.
Find it
Cedar City Public Library, 303 North 100 East, Cedar City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Cedar City? 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 $6.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cedar City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $846K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $846K 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 16,216 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar City | Cedar City Public Library fine-free | 9.1 | 64 | B+ |
| Enoch | Iron County Bookmobile Library | — | — | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Cedar City 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 Cedar City
Does Cedar City have a public library?
Yes. Cedar City Public Library, 303 North 100 East, serves Cedar City’s 39,942 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cedar City 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 Cedar City’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Cedar City’s civic life grade?
B+ Cedar City is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Cedar City.
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.