Swea City’s library logs 3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Swea City Public Library serves Swea City’s 633 residents. Last year it lent 2,510 print books and media and logged 1,900 visits.
Swea City’s library, in brief
Open only about 18 hours a week
Swea City Public Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Swea City Public Library serves 633 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 ↓
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 Swea City’s civic life grade
Swea City 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 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Swea City Public Library serves 633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
2,510 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
43 programs a year
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 Swea City last year.
Find it
Swea City Public Library, 208 3rd St. N, Swea City.
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 Swea City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $49K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K budget.
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 320 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Swea City Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Swea City
Does Swea City have a public library?
Yes. Swea City Public Library, 208 3rd St. N, serves Swea City’s 633 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Swea City’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Swea City’s civic life grade?
Swea City 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 Swea City.
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.