Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Swink’s library lends 3.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Swink School/Public Library serves 1,467 people in and around Swink. Last year it lent 5,248 books, movies and e-books.
What Swink’s library is like
Colorado pays a big share
82% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Swink School/Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 76% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 72% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Swink School/Public Library spends $15 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Swink School/Public Library serves 1,467 people in and around Swink, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Swink’s civic life grade
Swink isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Swink School/Public Library serves 1,467 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Swink School/Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5,248 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Swink School/Public Library, 610 Columbia Ave, Swink.
No late fees. Good at every Swink School/Public Library branch.
New in Swink? 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 $3.07 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Swink cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $69K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K budget.
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 341 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Swink School/Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- System-wide. Swink School/Public Library serves 1,467 people in and around Swink, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Swink.
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 Swink
Does Swink have a public library?
Yes. Swink School/Public Library, 610 Columbia Ave, serves 1,467 people in and around Swink (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Swink School/Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Swink’s library?
It lent 3.6 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Swink’s civic life grade?
Swink isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Swink.
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.