Shafer Barn · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Hoxie’s library runs 53 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Sheridan County Public Library serves 2,240 people in and around Hoxie. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,641 visits.
What’s behind Hoxie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hoxie is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. Hoxie is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Hoxie’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Hoxie
18.2 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Hoxie’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 Hoxie’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sheridan County Public Library serves 2,240 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sheridan County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,210 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 County Public Library, 801 Royal Avenue, Hoxie.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sheridan County Public Library branch.
New in Hoxie? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hoxie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $75K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $172K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $75K 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 1,217 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sheridan County Public Library serves 2,240 people in and around Hoxie, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hoxie.
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 Hoxie
Does Hoxie have a public library?
Yes. Sheridan County Public Library, 801 Royal Avenue, serves 2,240 people in and around Hoxie (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sheridan County 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 Hoxie’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hoxie’s civic life grade?
A Hoxie is ahead of 94% 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 Hoxie.
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.