Weston Bluff Skirmish Site · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainSturgis’ library is a branch of Union County Public Library District, which lends more per resident than 53% of systems its size
Sturgis’s library is the Sturgis Library, a branch of Union County Public Library District, which serves 13,106 people and lent 66K items last year.
What stands out about Sturgis Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sturgis’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sturgis is ahead of 2% of U.S. towns. Sturgis is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sturgis’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($28K–$46K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
3 community nonprofits are registered in Sturgis
1.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.4%
3.4% of Sturgis’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.6% in the typical Kentucky 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 Sturgis’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Union County Public Library District serves 13,106 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Union County Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
66K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,994 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Sturgis Library, 15 W Seventh St., Sturgis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Union County Public Library District branch.
New in Sturgis? 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 $1.61 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sturgis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $726K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $726K 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 5,127 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sturgis Library is one branch of Union County Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 13,106 people it serves.
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 Sturgis
Does Sturgis have a public library?
Yes: Sturgis Library, 15 W Seventh St., is a branch of Union County Public Library District, which serves 13,106 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Union County Public Library District 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 Sturgis’ library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sturgis’ civic life grade?
D− Sturgis is ahead of 2% 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 Sturgis.
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.