Severance’s library is a branch of Clearview Library District, which lends more per resident than 86% of systems its size
Severance’s library is the Severance Library, a branch of Clearview Library District, which serves 42,823 people and lent 497K items last year.
Severance’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 61% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
78% of the 1,665 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 17 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
The Clearview Library District system ran 1,665 programs last year, about 32 a week. That’s 39 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. People show up: 42,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
The Clearview Library District system spends $143 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Severance’s library is a branch of Clearview Library District, so they cover the whole system (42,823 people), not just the Severance branch.
What’s behind Severance’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Severance is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #92 of 104 in Colorado. Severance is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$156K) 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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Severance
0.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Severance’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Severance’s residents live; 2022.
About 25 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Clearview Library District serves 42,823 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 91 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clearview Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
497K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
116,413 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Severance Library, 5 Timber Ridge Parkway, Severance.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clearview Library District branch.
New in Severance? 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 $1.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Severance cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.1M 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 27,467 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severance | Severance Library | — | 48 | D |
| Windsor | Clearview Library District | — | 62 | C |
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. Severance Library is one branch of Clearview Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 42,823 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 Severance
Does Severance have a public library?
Yes: Severance Library, 5 Timber Ridge Parkway, is a branch of Clearview Library District, which serves 42,823 people. The branch is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clearview Library District 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 Severance’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Severance’s civic life grade?
D Severance is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #92 of 104 in Colorado. 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 Severance.
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.