Photo: JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Sweet Springs’ library runs 2.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Sweet Springs Public Library serves Sweet Springs’s 1,316 residents. Last year it lent 4,550 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,756 visits.
What Sweet Springs’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Sweet Springs Public Library offered 3 programs last year, 2.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Sweet Springs Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Sweet Springs Public Library serves 1,316 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Sweet Springs Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Sweet Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sweet Springs is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns. Sweet Springs’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Sweet Springs
7.9 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Sweet Springs’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 Sweet Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sweet Springs Public Library serves 1,316 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,550 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
913 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
3 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sweet Springs last year.
Find it
Sweet Springs Public Library, 217 Turner Street, Sweet Springs.
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 $2.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sweet Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $33K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $68K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $33K 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 289 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Sweet Springs Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Sweet Springs
Does Sweet Springs have a public library?
Yes. Sweet Springs Public Library, 217 Turner Street, serves Sweet Springs’ 1,316 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sweet Springs Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sweet Springs’ library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sweet Springs’ civic life grade?
C+ Sweet Springs is ahead of 43% 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 Sweet 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.