Photo: Rino Landa · CC BY-SA 4.0North Port’s library is a branch of Sarasota County Public Libraries, which lends more per resident than 59% of systems its size
North Port’s library is the Shannon Staub Library, a branch of Sarasota County Public Libraries, which serves 479,021 people and lent 1.8M items last year.
What stands out about Shannon Staub Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind North Port’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, North Port is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns, #214 of 273 in Florida. North Port 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 ($63K–$105K) 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 →
155 community nonprofits are registered in North Port
1.8 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 (64 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 10 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of North Port’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 North Port’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Sarasota County Public Libraries serves 479,021 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Sarasota County Public Libraries
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sarasota County Public Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. 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
1.8M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for North Port’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 35 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.
2 places to borrow in North Port
Shannon Staub Library, 4675 Career Lane, North Port.
No late fees. Good at every Sarasota County Public Libraries branch.
New in North Port? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Sarasota County Public Libraries branches in North Port
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Port 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 224,371 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Port | Shannon Staub Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Englewood | Elsie Quirk Library fine-free | — | 49 | — unincorporated |
| Warm Mineral Springs | 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. 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.
- System-wide. Shannon Staub Library is one branch of Sarasota County Public Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 479,021 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 North Port
Does North Port have a public library?
Yes: Shannon Staub Library, 4675 Career Lane, is a branch of Sarasota County Public Libraries, which serves 479,021 people. The branch is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sarasota County Public Libraries fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is North Port’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is North Port’s civic life grade?
D North Port is ahead of 8% of U.S. towns on civic life, #214 of 273 in Florida. 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 North Port.
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.