Photo: mbush_utah · CC BY 2.0Garland’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Garland Public Library serves Garland’s 2,668 residents. Last year it lent 39K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
The short version on Garland’s library
Garland is a town of borrowers
Garland Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 93% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 25% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Garland Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 2,729 square feet. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 14 items per child in Garland last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 165 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 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 Garland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Garland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #35 of 106 in Utah. Library visits hold the grade up; Garland’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($56K–$93K) 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Garland
2.6 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of Garland’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 Garland’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 Garland 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.
Garland Public Library serves 2,668 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
39K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
9,846 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Garland Public Library, 86 West Factory Road, Garland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Garland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Garland Carnegie Library
Garland Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 25, 1984. It is significant for its education at the state level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Carnegie Library TR.
The Garland Carnegie Library, at 86 W. Factory St. in Garland, Utah, is a Carnegie library which was built in 1914. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1914. Like many Carnegie libraries, it is a one-story structure built on a raised basement. It was built by the Newton Company in Classical Revival style.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $4.36 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Garland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $623K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 1,462 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garland | Garland Public Library | 14.6 | 29 | C |
| Tremonton | Tremonton City Library | 10.2 | 51 | C+ |
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 Garland
Does Garland have a public library?
Yes. Garland Public Library, 86 West Factory Road, serves Garland’s 2,668 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 29 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Garland 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 Garland’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 14.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Garland’s civic life grade?
C Garland is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #35 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 Garland.
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.