Photo: Public domain · Public domainDelta’s library lends 16 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Delta City Library serves Delta’s 3,728 residents. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
The short version on Delta’s library
Delta ranks 2nd in Utah for borrowing
Out of 38 Utah towns with a library of their own, Delta comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 29 items per child in Delta last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Nearly everyone in Delta has a card
3,557 cards for 3,728 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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 Delta’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Delta is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #19 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Delta
4.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Delta’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 Delta’s residents live; 2022.
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 Delta last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Delta City Library serves 3,728 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 41K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
19,819 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Delta City Library, 76 North 200 West, Delta.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Delta? 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 $5.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Delta cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $224K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $224K 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 3,557 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Delta
Does Delta have a public library?
Yes. Delta City Library, 76 North 200 West, serves Delta’s 3,728 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Delta City 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 Delta’s library?
It logged 5.1 visits and lent 21.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Delta’s civic life grade?
B− Delta is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #19 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 Delta.
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.