Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0Smithfield’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Smithfield Library serves Smithfield’s 14,726 residents. Last year it lent 153K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
What stands out about Smithfield’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Smithfield’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Smithfield is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #74 of 106 in Utah. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($73K–$122K) 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Smithfield
1.0 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.5%
5.5% of Smithfield’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 Smithfield’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
153K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.7 times last year, on average.
56,630 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Smithfield Library serves 14,726 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 4 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 Smithfield last year.
Find it
Smithfield Library, 25 North Main Street, Smithfield.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Smithfield? 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 $5.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Smithfield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $405K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $405K 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 3,403 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Smithfield
Does Smithfield have a public library?
Yes. Smithfield Library, 25 North Main Street, serves Smithfield’s 14,726 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Smithfield 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 Smithfield’s library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Smithfield’s civic life grade?
D Smithfield is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Smithfield.
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.