Jason and Elizabeth Baylor Rector House · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Sidney’s library lends 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sidney Public Library serves Sidney’s 2,275 residents. Last year it lent 2,608 print books and media and logged 3,498 visits.
The short version on Sidney’s library
Sidney Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sidney Public Library records 1.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Sidney Public Library serves 2,275 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. 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 ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 52 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 17 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Sidney’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sidney is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Sidney is graded on two of the three inputs. Sidney’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Sidney
15.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.3%
6.3% of Sidney’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Sidney’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sidney Public Library serves 2,275 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,608 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,546 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
52 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sidney last year.
Find it
Sidney Public Library, 1002 Illinois St., Sidney.
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 Sidney cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $80K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $55K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $80K 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 1,146 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Sidney
Does Sidney have a public library?
Yes. Sidney Public Library, 1002 Illinois St., serves Sidney’s 2,275 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sidney Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sidney’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 1.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sidney’s civic life grade?
B+ Sidney is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Sidney.
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.