Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Sharon Springs’ library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Sharon Springs Public Library serves Sharon Springs’s 751 residents. Last year it lent 9,117 books, movies and e-books and logged 7,986 visits.
The short version on Sharon Springs’s library
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. That works out to about 23 items per child in Sharon Springs last year. 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’ civic life grade
Sharon Springs 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sharon Springs last year.
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? 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 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.
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
Does Sharon Springs have a public library?
Yes. Sharon Springs Public Library, 414 North Main, serves Sharon Springs’ 751 residents (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’ 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’ civic life grade?
Sharon Springs 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.
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.