Murray Springs Clovis Site · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Sierra Vista’s library lends 5.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Sierra Vista Public Library serves Sierra Vista’s 45,492 residents. Last year it lent 269K print books and media and logged 152K visits.
What stands out about Sierra Vista’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sierra Vista’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sierra Vista is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #17 of 68 in Arizona. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
204 community nonprofits are registered in Sierra Vista
4.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (70 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 6 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.6%
8.6% of Sierra Vista’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona 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 Sierra Vista’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Sierra Vista Public Library serves 45,492 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
269K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 95K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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 Sierra Vista last year.
Find it
Sierra Vista Public Library, 2600 E Tacoma St., Sierra Vista.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sierra Vista? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sierra Vista cardholder borrows.
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 20,854 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Vista | Sierra Vista Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 51 | B |
| Huachuca City | Huachuca City Public Library | 5.0 | 41 | A |
| Sierra Vista Southeast | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Whetstone | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: spending and funding. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Sierra Vista
Does Sierra Vista have a public library?
Yes. Sierra Vista Public Library, 2600 E Tacoma St., serves Sierra Vista’s 45,492 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sierra Vista 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 Sierra Vista’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 5.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sierra Vista’s civic life grade?
B Sierra Vista is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 of 68 in Arizona. 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 Sierra Vista.
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.