Photo: PeteysHead · CC BY-SA 4.0Park City’s library logs 31 visits per resident, the seventh-highest of 3,790 U.S. town libraries
Park City Library serves Park City’s 8,254 residents. Last year it lent 196K books, movies and e-books and logged 253K visits.
The short version on Park City’s library
Park City has the most-used library in Utah
Out of 38 Utah towns with a library of their own, Park City comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #1 for borrowing and #1 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Park City uses its library more than almost any town its size
Park City Library logs 31 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
9,041 cards for 8,254 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Park City Library ran 853 programs last year, about 16 a week. That’s 103 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 24,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 40 items per child in Park City last year. 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 Park City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Park City is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #2 of 106 in Utah. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Park City Library logged 30.6 visits per resident in FY2024, #7 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in Park City
9.1 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.1%
7.1% of Park 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 Park City’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Park City Library serves 8,254 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
45% of borrowing is digital
196K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 67K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
88,111 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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 Park City last year.
Find it
Park City Library, 1255 Park Avenue, Park City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Park 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Park City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 9,041 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park City | Park City Library fine-free | 23.8 | 62 | A |
| Snyderville | Summit County Library Main Library fine-free | — | 54 | — unincorporated |
| Brighton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 count everyone. Park City’s 252,739 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Park City
Does Park City have a public library?
Yes. Park City Library, 1255 Park Avenue, serves Park City’s 8,254 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Park 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 Park City’s library?
It logged 30.6 visits and lent 23.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Its visits per resident rank #7 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Park City’s civic life grade?
A Park City is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Park 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.