Photo: Bryce D. Holt · CC BY-SA 4.0Richmond’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Richmond Public Library serves Richmond’s 3,032 residents. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What Richmond’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 74% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Richmond last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Richmond is a town of borrowers
Richmond 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 2.1 times last year. What people borrow ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Richmond Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 2,700 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
75% of the 176 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 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 Richmond’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Richmond is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #49 of 106 in Utah. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($83K–$138K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Richmond
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
2.6%
2.6% of Richmond’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 Richmond’s residents live; 2022.
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 Richmond last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Richmond Public Library serves 3,032 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
17,588 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
Richmond Public Library, 38 West Main Street, Richmond.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Richmond? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Richmond Carnegie Library
Richmond 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 Richmond Carnegie Library is a historic one-story building in Richmond, Utah. It was built as a Carnegie library in 1913-1914 by August S. Schow, and designed in the Classical Revival style by Watkins & Birch, an architectural firm based in Provo. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 25, 1984.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $5.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Richmond cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $127K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $746K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $127K 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 899 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | Richmond Public Library fine-free | 16.8 | 33 | C− |
| Cove | 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.
- 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 Richmond
Does Richmond have a public library?
Yes. Richmond Public Library, 38 West Main Street, serves Richmond’s 3,032 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Richmond Public 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 Richmond’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 16.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Richmond’s civic life grade?
C− Richmond is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Richmond.
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.