Photo: Boscophotos · CC BY-SA 3.0Sheffield’s library logs 1.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Sheffield Public Library serves Sheffield’s 821 residents. Last year it lent 1,501 print books and media and logged 1,475 visits.
What Sheffield’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Sheffield Public Library sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Sheffield Public Library serves 821 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 26 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 ↓
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 Sheffield’s civic life grade
Sheffield 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sheffield Public Library serves 821 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,501 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 Sheffield’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 7,595 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
32 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.
Find it
Sheffield Public Library, 136 East Cook Street, Sheffield.
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 Sheffield cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $37K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $28K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $37K 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 338 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Illinois libraries often don’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 Sheffield
Does Sheffield have a public library?
Yes. Sheffield Public Library, 136 East Cook Street, serves Sheffield’s 821 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sheffield Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sheffield’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sheffield’s civic life grade?
Sheffield 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 Sheffield.
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.