Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSheridan’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Sheridan Public Library serves 5,218 people in and around Sheridan. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 57K visits.
The short version on Sheridan’s library
Visits are the system’s strong suit
Sheridan Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 95% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 63% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 82% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Sheridan Public Library serves 5,218 people in and around Sheridan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sheridan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sheridan is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #76 of 571 in Indiana. Sheridan is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Sheridan
4.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.2%
12.2% of Sheridan’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Sheridan’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sheridan Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sheridan Public Library serves 5,218 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,161 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
Sheridan Public Library, 103 West First Street, Sheridan.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sheridan Public Library branch.
New in Sheridan? The Handbook →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 $1.85 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sheridan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $385K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $714K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $385K 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 3,985 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheridan | Sheridan Public Library | — | 47 | A |
| Westfield Washington Township | Westfield-Washington Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | B |
| Jackson Township | Hamilton North Public Library | — | 47 | B+ |
| Marion Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sheridan Public Library serves 5,218 people in and around Sheridan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sheridan.
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 Sheridan
Does Sheridan have a public library?
Yes. Sheridan Public Library, 103 West First Street, serves 5,218 people in and around Sheridan (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sheridan Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sheridan’s library?
It logged 11.0 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sheridan’s civic life grade?
A Sheridan is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Sheridan.
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.