Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0Sidney’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Sidney-Richland County Library serves 11,491 people in and around Sidney. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Sidney’s library
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
74% of the 118 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 59% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Sidney-Richland County Library serves 11,491 people in and around Sidney, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sidney’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sidney is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #23 of 28 in Montana. Sidney is graded on two of the three inputs. Sidney’s 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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Sidney
9.9 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.8%
5.8% of Sidney’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.0% in the typical Montana 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 Sidney’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Sidney-Richland County Library serves 11,491 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sidney-Richland County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
15,939 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Sidney-Richland County Library, 121 3rd Ave NW, Sidney.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sidney-Richland County Library branch.
New in Sidney? 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 $1.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sidney cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $349K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $670K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $349K 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 2,019 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sidney-Richland County Library serves 11,491 people in and around Sidney, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sidney.
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 Sidney
Does Sidney have a public library?
Yes. Sidney-Richland County Library, 121 3rd Ave NW, serves 11,491 people in and around Sidney (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sidney-Richland County 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 Sidney’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Sidney’s civic life grade?
B Sidney is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 of 28 in Montana. 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 Sidney.
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.