Photo: Scott Catron from Sandy, Utah, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Sandy’s library is a branch of Salt Lake County Library, which lends more per resident than 95% of systems its size
Sandy’s library is the Sandy Library, a branch of Salt Lake County Library, which serves 926,667 people and lent 13M items last year.
Sandy’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
The Salt Lake County Library system lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. 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; Sandy’s library is a branch of Salt Lake County Library, so they cover the whole system (926,667 people), not just the Sandy branch.
What’s behind Sandy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sandy is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #27 of 106 in Utah. Sandy is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sandy’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($84K–$140K) 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 →
291 community nonprofits are registered in Sandy
3.1 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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 18 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Sandy’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 Sandy’s residents live; 2022.
About 117 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Salt Lake County Library serves 926,667 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 229 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Salt Lake County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,597,388 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sandy Library, 10100 South Petunia Way, Sandy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Salt Lake County Library branch.
New in Sandy? 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 $3.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sandy cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $52M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $184M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52M 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 555,208 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy | Sandy Library | — | 58 | C+ |
| Midvale | Ruth V. Tyler Library | — | 58 | C |
| Cottonwood Heights | Whitmore Library | — | 58 | C+ |
| Draper | Draper Library | — | 58 | C+ |
| South Jordan | Daybreak Library | — | 58 | C |
| West Jordan | West Jordan Library | — | 57 | D |
| Granite | 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.
- System-wide. Sandy Library is one branch of Salt Lake County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 926,667 people it serves.
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 Sandy
Does Sandy have a public library?
Yes: Sandy Library, 10100 South Petunia Way, is a branch of Salt Lake County Library, which serves 926,667 people. The branch is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salt Lake County 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 Sandy’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 13.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sandy’s civic life grade?
C+ Sandy is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 Sandy.
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.