Photo: Munsonmunson · Public domainSpanish Fork’s library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Spanish Fork Public Library serves Spanish Fork’s 45,557 residents. Last year it lent 672K books, movies and e-books and logged 256K visits.
The short version on Spanish Fork’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 67% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Spanish Fork last year. Kids & programs ↓
Spanish Fork uses its library more than almost any town its size
Spanish Fork Public Library logs 5.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 76,000 items on the shelves went out about 6.5 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 26% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
43,000 people came to the library’s 1,006 programs last year: 1 per resident, against a typical 0.3, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. 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 Spanish Fork’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Spanish Fork is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #30 of 106 in Utah. Library visits hold the grade up; Spanish Fork’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($79K–$131K) 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 →
79 community nonprofits are registered in Spanish Fork
1.8 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.8%
6.8% of Spanish Fork’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 Spanish Fork’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 Spanish Fork last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Spanish Fork Public Library serves 45,557 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 248 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
672K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 76K books and other items on the shelves went out about 6.5 times last year, on average.
173,937 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Spanish Fork Public Library, 80 South Main Street, Spanish Fork.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Spanish Fork? 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 $6.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spanish Fork cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 18,451 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Spanish Fork ranks 2nd 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+ |
| Spanish Fork | Spanish Fork Public Library | 14.7 | 52 | C+ |
| Salem | Salem City Library | 12.1 | 45 | B− |
| Mapleton | Utah County/Mapleton Library | — | — | D |
| Palmyra | 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 Spanish Fork
Does Spanish Fork have a public library?
Yes. Spanish Fork Public Library, 80 South Main Street, serves Spanish Fork’s 45,557 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spanish Fork 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 Spanish Fork’s library?
It logged 5.6 visits and lent 14.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Spanish Fork’s civic life grade?
C+ Spanish Fork is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #30 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 Spanish Fork.
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.