Salt Lake County Library Services is a system of free public libraries serving the population throughout Salt Lake County, Utah. Salt Lake County Library Services is currently ranked 5th in the United States among libraries serving a population of 500,000 or greater. This is the sixth time the County Library System has ranked among the top in the nation.
Salt Lake County Library Services began operations early in 1939, when the first location was housed in two school rooms in the old Midvale, Utah School. Small libraries were subsequently established in several county schools. The library was immediately very popular with the residents, issuing library cards to 1,700 patrons between January and April 1939. The first Salt Lake County Library Board was established a year earlier, in 1938, and members included Dr. C. N. Jensen, Dr. Calvin S. Smith, Alf G. Gunn and County Commissioner J. R. Rawlins. Ruth Vine Tyler, a former school teacher and Salt Lake City librarian, was chosen as the first library director.
The grand opening of the Midvale Library Headquarters was held on August 9, 1941. On September 1, 1971, Guy Schuurman, former Weber County Librarian, succeeded Tyler as the director of the system ushering in an era of growth and innovation. By 1972 the system was the largest library system in the state with 11 buildings, 132 employees and more than 125,000 card-carrying patrons.
The Utah Best in State Award for libraries went to Salt Lake County in 2005 citing the substantial contribution the library system has made in improving the quality of life in Utah. The library's innovation and creativity in applying new technologies to enrich customers' library experience was acknowledged as well as the library's fiscal responsibility.
Salt Lake County Library Services, currently under the leadership of Director James D. Cooper, circulated almost 14.5 million items in 2008, and houses a collection of more than 2 million items. Circulation has increased 45% since 2000, the number of library card holders has increased 29.5% to over 600,000, and the number of library sponsored programs has increased 59%.
There are 18 full-service branches in the system located throughout Salt Lake County, and two smaller library outlets. The branches are as follows: Bingham Creek, Columbus Center, Draper, Herriman, Holladay, Hunter, Kearns, Magna, Millcreek, Riverton, Sandy, Calvin S. Smith, South Jordan, Taylorsville, Ruth Vine Tyler, West Jordan, West Valley and Whitmore. The outlets are the Alta Reading Room and the library at the county jail.
Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 1,029,655, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The county was created in 1850. Salt Lake County is the 37th most populated county in the United States and is one of four counties in the Rocky Mountains to make it into the top 100. Salt Lake County is the only county of the first class in Utah - which under the Utah Code is a county with a population of 700,000 or greater.
Midvale is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. Midvale's population was 34,124 according to 2019 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Murray is a city situated on the Wasatch Front in the core of Salt Lake Valley in the U.S. state of Utah. Named for territorial governor Eli Murray, it is the state's fourteenth largest city. According to the 2010 census, Murray has approximately 46,746 residents. Murray shares borders with Taylorsville, Holladay, South Salt Lake and West Jordan, Utah. Once teeming with heavy industry, Murray's industrial sector now has little trace and has been replaced by major mercantile sectors. Known for its central location in Salt Lake County, Murray has been called the Hub of Salt Lake County. Unlike most of its neighboring communities, Murray operates its own police, fire, power, water, library, and parks and recreation departments and has its own school district. While maintaining many of its own services, Murray has one of the lowest city tax rates in the state.
Riverton is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 38,753 at the 2010 census, but has since grown to 44,440. Riverton is located in the rapidly growing southwestern corner of the Salt Lake Valley.
South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, 18 miles (29 km) south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lies in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the 9,000-foot (2,700 m) Oquirrh Mountains and the 12,000-foot (3,700 m) Wasatch Mountains. The city has 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the Jordan River Parkway that contains fishing ponds, trails, parks, and natural habitats. The Salt Lake County fair grounds and equestrian park, 67-acre (27 ha) Oquirrh Lake, and 27 parks are located inside the city. As of 2019, there were 76,598 people in South Jordan.
West Jordan is a city in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is a rapidly growing suburb of Salt Lake City and has a mixed economy. According to the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 103,712, placing it as the fourth most populous in the state. The city occupies the southwest end of the Salt Lake Valley at an elevation of 4,330 feet (1,320 m). Named after the nearby Jordan River, the limits of the city begin on the river's western bank and end in the eastern foothills of the Oquirrh Mountains, where Kennecott Copper Mine, the world's largest man-made excavation is located.
The Jordan River, in the state of Utah, United States, is a river about 51 miles (82 km) long. Regulated by pumps at its headwaters at Utah Lake, it flows northward through the Salt Lake Valley and empties into the Great Salt Lake. Four of Utah's six largest cities border the river: Salt Lake City, West Valley City, West Jordan and Sandy. More than a million people live in the Jordan Subbasin, which is the part of the Jordan River watershed that lies within Salt Lake and Utah counties. During the Pleistocene, the area was part of Lake Bonneville.
The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) is a special service district responsible for providing public transportation throughout the Wasatch Front of Utah, in the United States, which includes the metropolitan areas of Ogden, Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and Tooele. It operates fixed route buses, flex route buses, express buses, ski buses, three light rail lines in Salt Lake County (TRAX), a streetcar line in Salt Lake City, and a commuter rail train (FrontRunner) from Ogden through Salt Lake City to Provo. UTA is headquartered in Salt Lake City with operations and garages in locations throughout the Wasatch Front, including Ogden, Midvale and Orem. Light rail vehicles are stored and maintained at yards at locations in South Salt Lake and Midvale. UTA’s commuter rail equipment is stored and serviced at a facility in Salt Lake City.
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) is a public community college in Salt Lake County, Utah. It is the state's largest two-year college with the most diverse student body. It serves more than 60,000 students on 10 campuses as well as through online classes. The college has a student to faculty ratio of 20:1. Since SLCC is a community college, it focuses on providing associate degrees that students can transfer to any other four-year university in the state to satisfy their first two years of requirements for a bachelor's degree. SLCC has open enrollment and serves the local community, with approximately 95% of the student body considered Utah residents.
The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building was opened in 1968 and named for J. Willard Marriott, founder of Marriott International, in 1969. After two major renovations, the building is more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) and houses more than 4.5 million volumes. The University of Utah Press and Red Butte Press are divisions of the Marriott Library.
The Tuscaloosa Public Library is a city/county agency in the city of Tuscaloosa, serving a population of over 184,035 in Tuscaloosa County in the state of Alabama, United States. The Library has 58,037 registered patrons that use the library on a regular basis. There are currently over 225,000 items cataloged in the system. The library has three service outlets: the Main Library, the Brown Branch and the Weaver-Bolden Branch.
The Blue Line is a light rail line on the TRAX system in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah, in the United States, operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). It is the first line of the TRAX system completed. The line opened on December 4, 1999, one year ahead of schedule after two years of construction. In addition to Salt Lake City, it also serves the communities of South Salt Lake, Murray, Midvale, Sandy and Draper. The line was known as the North/South Line or the Sandy/Salt Lake Line until color names were adopted for each TRAX line in August 2011. An extension of the line to Draper began service on August 18, 2013.
Jordan School District is a school district in the southwestern portion of Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It now employs 2,631 teachers and other licensed personnel who educate more than 52,300 students. An additional 2,610 employees provide support services for the system. Jordan District was the largest in Utah until the Canyons School District in the southeastern portion of the county split in 2009. Boundaries for Jordan District now include the communities of Bluffdale, Copperton, Herriman, Riverton, South Jordan and most of West Jordan.
The Jordan River Parkway is an approximately 40-mile (64 km) urban park that runs along the Jordan River within the U.S. state of Utah. The parkway follows along the river from Utah Lake in Utah County, through Salt Lake County and onto the Great Salt Lake in Davis County. The majority of a mixed-use trail has been completed with a shared-use path for cyclists, skaters, and joggers. A separate equestrian path runs on the southern portion of the trail. Many trail-heads, city and county parks and golf courses are also located along the parkway.
The Salt Lake City Public Library system is a network of public libraries funded by Salt Lake City. The Free Public Library of Salt Lake City first opened on February 14, 1898. The system is under the direction of a library board and circulates more than three million items each year.
The Red Line is a light rail line on the TRAX system in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). It originally began operation in December 2001 as the peak-hour-only Sandy/University Line, running from the University of Utah south to Sandy Civic Center on the Blue Line. It was later rerouted to South Jordan and renamed the Red Line in August 2011, running as an all-day route. The current line runs from the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City through the south end of Downtown Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Murray, Midvale, West Jordan, and South Jordan to the University of Utah's South Jordan Medical Center in Daybreak.
Canyons School District is a school district in the southern portion of Salt Lake County in Utah, United States. The district serves the communities of Alta, Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Midvale and Sandy. Residents of those communities voted to create the district in 2007, making Canyons the first school district to be formed in the state in almost a century. Canyons has approximately 33,000 students in 44 schools. There are 29 elementary schools, eight middle schools, five high schools, and four special programs schools, including one technical school, a special education school and a high school for adults in prison. The district covers 192 square miles and employs 6,000 people.
State Street is a wide 17.3-mile-long (27.8 km) street in Salt Lake County, Utah leading almost straight south from the steps of the Utah State Capitol Building, through Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, western Millcreek Township, Murray, eastern Midvale, Sandy, and northwestern Draper. Because it follows the most direct route from downtown Salt Lake City to the Point of the Mountain pass to Utah County, it was the undisputed main road south from Salt Lake City until Interstate 15 (I-15) was built to the west. It retains the U.S. Highway 89 (US-89) designation for all but the northernmost seven blocks despite I-15's proximity. Due to its history as a route for long-distance travel, travel within the Wasatch Front region, and travel between the cities along the east side of the Jordan River, it has attracted a wide variety of retail and service businesses along its entire length, creating a nearly continuous commercial axis for the Salt Lake Valley.
The Clearwater Public Library System (CPLS) is a public library system with five branches that has provided service to the citizens of Clearwater, Florida and Pinellas County. The library system was founded in 1911. It is a member of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative.
The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Grant Library building was completed in 1925, and in 1961 the library moved to the newly constructed J. Reuben Clark Library where it stands today. That building was renamed to the Harold B. Lee Library in 1974.
