Photo: P199 · CC BY-SA 3.0Kanab’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Kanab City Library serves Kanab’s 5,240 residents. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What stands out about Kanab’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Kanab’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Kanab is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns, #3 of 106 in Utah. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Kanab’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Kanab
8.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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.
9.3%
9.3% of Kanab’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 Kanab’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
19,521 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kanab City Library serves 5,240 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Kanab last year.
Find it
Kanab City Library, 374 North Main Street, Kanab.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Kanab? 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 $4.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kanab cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $217K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $990K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $217K 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 2,858 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 Kanab
Does Kanab have a public library?
Yes. Kanab City Library, 374 North Main Street, serves Kanab’s 5,240 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kanab City 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 Kanab’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 11.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Kanab’s civic life grade?
A Kanab is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life, #3 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 Kanab.
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.