Stockholm Swedish Lutheran Church and Cemetery · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Shickley’s library lends 6.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Virgil Biegert Public Library serves Shickley’s 348 residents. Last year it lent 3,565 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,524 visits.
Shickley’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
1,121 cards for 348 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 ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Virgil Biegert Public Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Virgil Biegert Public Library serves 348 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 ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Shickley invests in its library
Virgil Biegert Public Library spends $109 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Shickley’s civic life grade
Shickley 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Virgil Biegert Public Library serves 348 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
3,565 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,231 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
19 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Shickley last year.
Find it
Virgil Biegert Public Library, 214 North Market Street, Shickley.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Shickley? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shickley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 1,121 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. Virgil Biegert 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 Shickley
Does Shickley have a public library?
Yes. Virgil Biegert Public Library, 214 North Market Street, serves Shickley’s 348 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Virgil Biegert 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 Shickley’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Shickley’s civic life grade?
Shickley 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 Shickley.
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.