Photo: Flickr user Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Ephraim’s library lends 7.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Ephraim Public Library serves Ephraim’s 6,108 residents. Last year it lent 46K print books and media and logged 20K visits.
What stands out about Ephraim’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Ephraim’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ephraim is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns, #51 of 106 in Utah. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($50K–$83K) 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Ephraim
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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.
5.2%
5.2% of Ephraim’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 Ephraim’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Ephraim last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ephraim Public Library serves 6,108 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
46K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 29K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ephraim Public Library, 30 South Main Street, Ephraim.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ephraim? 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 $3.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ephraim cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $223K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $685K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $223K 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 2,290 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Ephraim
Does Ephraim have a public library?
Yes. Ephraim Public Library, 30 South Main Street, serves Ephraim’s 6,108 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ephraim 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 Ephraim’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 7.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ephraim’s civic life grade?
C− Ephraim is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #51 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 Ephraim.
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.