Photo: Creator: Javin Weaver · CC BY-SA 3.0Provo’s library logs 4.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Provo City Library serves Provo’s 113,343 residents. Last year it lent 1.7M books, movies and e-books and logged 531K visits.
Provo’s library, in brief
Provo ranks 2nd in Utah for kids’ borrowing
Out of 38 Utah towns with a library of their own, Provo comes 2nd for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
Provo uses its library more than almost any town its size
Provo City Library logs 4.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 9.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 95% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 33 items per child in Provo last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 223,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.9 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
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 Provo’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Provo is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #34 of 106 in Utah. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #148. Library visits hold the grade up; Provo’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) 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 →
250 community nonprofits are registered in Provo
2.2 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 (25 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Provo’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 Provo’s residents live; 2022.
About 18 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 Provo last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Provo City Library serves 113,343 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 496 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 223K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.9 times last year, on average.
613,974 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Provo City Library, 550 North University Avenue, Provo.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Provo? 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 $4.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Provo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $25M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 71,373 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Provo ranks 3rd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Springville | Springville Public Library | 18.7 | 58 | C+ |
| Orem | Orem Public Library | 15.2 | 66 | C |
| Provo | Provo City Library | 15.0 | 66 | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Provo City Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Provo
Does Provo have a public library?
Yes. Provo City Library, 550 North University Avenue, serves Provo’s 113,343 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Provo 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 Provo’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 15.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Provo’s civic life grade?
C Provo is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #34 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 Provo.
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.