Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Richfield’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Richfield Public Library serves Richfield’s 8,268 residents. Last year it lent 30K print books and media and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Richfield’s library
Programs are almost all for children
96% of the 164 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
8,674 cards for 8,268 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Richfield Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 4,250 square feet. The building ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 65% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 66% of similar-size libraries. 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 Richfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Richfield is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns, #12 of 106 in Utah. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Richfield
3.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
14.3%
14.3% of Richfield’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 Richfield’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Richfield Public Library serves 8,268 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
30K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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 Richfield last year.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Richfield Public Library, 83 East Center Street, Richfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Richfield? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Richfield Carnegie Library
Richfield 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 Bungalow and Craftsman. It was listed as part of Carnegie Library TR.
The Richfield Carnegie Library in Richfield, Utah is a building from 1913. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $453K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 8,674 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 Richfield
Does Richfield have a public library?
Yes. Richfield Public Library, 83 East Center Street, serves Richfield’s 8,268 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richfield 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 Richfield’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 3.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Richfield’s civic life grade?
B Richfield is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 Richfield.
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.