Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Sibley’s library is a branch of Webster Parish Library, which lends more per resident than 51% of systems its size
Sibley’s library is the Sibley Branch, a branch of Webster Parish Library, which serves 35,184 people and lent 206K items last year.
Sibley’s library, in brief
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Sibley branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A well-funded system
The Webster Parish Library system spends $84 per resident a year, about twice the typical $40 for a library its size. Almost all of it (95%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Sibley’s library is a branch of Webster Parish Library, so they cover the whole system (35,184 people), not just the Sibley branch.
What’s behind Sibley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sibley is ahead of 19% of U.S. towns. Sibley is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sibley’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($32K–$53K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Sibley
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Sibley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Sibley’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sibley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 14,707 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Webster Parish Library serves 35,184 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Webster Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
206K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
71,219 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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
Sibley Branch, 127 SE 4th Street, Sibley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Webster Parish Library branch.
New in Sibley? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sibley Branch is one branch of Webster Parish Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 35,184 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 Sibley
Does Sibley have a public library?
Yes: Sibley Branch, 127 SE 4th Street, is a branch of Webster Parish Library, which serves 35,184 people. The branch is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Webster Parish 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 Sibley’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sibley’s civic life grade?
C− Sibley is ahead of 19% 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 Sibley.
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.