Photo: inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) · CC BY-SA 2.0Sioux Center’s library lends 15 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Sioux Center Public Library serves Sioux Center’s 14,026 residents. Last year it lent 214K print books and media and logged 131K visits.
The short version on Sioux Center’s library
Sioux Center uses its library more than almost any town its size
Sioux Center Public Library logs 9.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 15 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 96% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 64 items per child in Sioux Center last year. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Sioux Center Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out. The building ↓
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.
What’s behind Sioux Center’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sioux Center is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #132 of 138 in Iowa. Sioux Center is graded on two of the three inputs. Sioux Center’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($70K–$116K) 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Sioux Center
4.7 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 (21 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.5%
3.5% of Sioux Center’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 Sioux Center’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sioux Center last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sioux Center Public Library serves 14,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
214K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 61K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.5 times last year, on average.
Find it
Sioux Center Public Library, 102 S Main Ave, Sioux Center.
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 $4.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sioux Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $726K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $726K 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 5,695 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 Sioux Center
Does Sioux Center have a public library?
Yes. Sioux Center Public Library, 102 S Main Ave, serves Sioux Center’s 14,026 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sioux Center Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sioux Center’s library?
It logged 9.4 visits and lent 15.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sioux Center’s civic life grade?
C Sioux Center is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on civic life, #132 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Sioux Center.
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.