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Seymour Community Library

Seymour’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size

Seymour Community Library serves Seymour’s 2,416 residents. Last year it lent 6,760 print books and media and logged 3,321 visits.

123 N 5th St., Seymour 52590 · about 21 hours a week
–Civic lifeNot graded: fewer than 1,000 residents
Borrowed a year
6,760
2.8 per resident
Visits a year
3,321
1.4 per resident · Below typical (3.5)
Programs & events
119
about 2 a week · 878 attended
Cardholders
27%
652 cards
Open
21 hrs
a week
In brief

The short version on Seymour’s library

Programs are almost all for children

84% of the 119 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 50 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓

A small-town library

Seymour Community Library serves 2,416 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓

Open only about 21 hours a week

Seymour Community Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓

Runs on less money than most

Seymour Community Library spends $9 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Seymour’s civic life grade

Seymour isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.

–
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Seymour’s overall grade.

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 →

How it compares

Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.4 visits · typical 3.5Lower than 86%
Borrowing per resident 2.8 print items · typical 3.9Lower than 64%
Kids’ borrowing 1.1 kids’ items · typical 1.4Lower than 57%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.7Lower than 68%
Programs offered 49.3 per 1,000 residents · typical 60Lower than 57%
Cardholders 27% of residents · typical 54%Lower than 81%
Spending $9 per resident · typical $54Bottom 10%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Seymour Community Library serves 2,416 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

3,321
visits
1.4 per resident
6,760
loans, print + digital
2.8 per resident
119
programs & events
878 attended
652
library cards
27% of people served
Every open hour6items borrowed
Every week17people at a program
Every week64visits
1 staff (full-time equivalent)1 public computers12K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

6,760 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

6,760loans
Books & media (adults) 61%Kids’ books & media 39%
How hard the shelves work
0.6×

Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.

Kids & programs

About 2 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Seymour →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–550
Ages 6–1150
Teens19
Adults0
All ages0
Little ones
1

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
19

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Seymour last year.

878
people at programs
119
programs
The building

Find it

Seymour Community Library, 123 N 5th St., Seymour.

21
hours open a week
2,400
square feet
12K
books & media
With a card

Ask at the desk about getting a card.

New in Seymour? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $5.17 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Seymour cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$9 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $21K.

Local taxes 77%State 1%Gifts & other 22%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $111K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21K 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 652 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • 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 Seymour

Does Seymour have a public library?

Yes. Seymour Community Library, 123 N 5th St., serves Seymour’s 2,416 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Seymour Community Library fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Seymour’s library?

It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.

What is Seymour’s civic life grade?

Seymour 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 Seymour.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.