Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Sharon Springs Township’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Sharon Springs Public Library serves 751 people in and around Sharon Springs Township. Last year it lent 9,117 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,986 visits.
What Sharon Springs Township’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 66% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
773 cards for 751 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Sharon Springs Public Library serves 751 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 43 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 ↓
People come to Sharon Springs Public Library a lot
Sharon Springs Public Library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
2,230 people came to the library’s 130 programs last year: 3 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Sharon Springs Township’s civic life grade
Sharon Springs Township 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 →
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sharon Springs Public Library serves 751 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
9,117 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,059 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,371 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sharon Springs Public Library, 414 North Main, Sharon Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sharon Springs Township? 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 $2.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sharon Springs Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $152K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
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 773 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Springs Township | Sharon Springs Public Library fine-free | 12.1 | 43 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Greeley County | Greeley County Public Library fine-free | — | 34 | A |
| Weskan Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wallace Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| McPherson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Harrison Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Sharon Springs Township
Does Sharon Springs Township have a public library?
Yes. Sharon Springs Public Library, 414 North Main, serves 751 people in and around Sharon Springs Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sharon Springs Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sharon Springs Township’s library?
It logged 10.6 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sharon Springs Township’s civic life grade?
Sharon Springs Township 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 Sharon Springs Township.
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.