Photo: Daniel Schwen · CC BY-SA 4.0Sidney’s library runs 15 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Sidney Community Library serves Sidney’s 1,208 residents. Last year it lent 3,835 print books and media and logged 3,030 visits.
The short version on Sidney’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Sidney Community 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
Sidney Community Library serves 1,208 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 21% of the people Sidney Community Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sidney Community Library spends $19 per resident, less than 92% 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.
What’s behind Sidney’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sidney is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Sidney is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sidney’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
2 community nonprofits are registered in Sidney
2.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
11.0%
11.0% of Sidney’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sidney Community Library serves 1,208 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
3,835 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 Sidney’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
18 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
Sidney Community Library, 217 South David Street, Sidney.
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 $2.97 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 $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $69K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K 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 249 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 Sidney
Does Sidney have a public library?
Yes. Sidney Community Library, 217 South David Street, serves Sidney’s 1,208 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sidney Community Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sidney’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 3.2 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 51% 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.