Sylvia’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Sylvia Public Library serves Sylvia’s 211 residents. Last year it lent 374 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,231 visits.
The short version on Sylvia’s library
More library cards than residents
270 cards for 211 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 ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 73% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 21%. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 10 hours a week
Sylvia Public Library keeps short hours: about 10 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Sylvia Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Sylvia Public Library serves 211 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
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 Sylvia’s civic life grade
Sylvia 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sylvia Public Library serves 211 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Sylvia Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
374 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,901 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Find it
Sylvia Public Library, 121 S. Main, Sylvia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sylvia? 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 $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sylvia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $5,489.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6,228 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5,489 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 270 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 Sylvia
Does Sylvia have a public library?
Yes. Sylvia Public Library, 121 S. Main, serves Sylvia’s 211 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sylvia 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 Sylvia’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sylvia’s civic life grade?
Sylvia 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 Sylvia.
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.