Scio’s library runs 108 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Scio Memorial Library serves 2,121 people in and around Scio. Last year it lent 4,037 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,978 visits.
What Scio’s library is like
Open only about 20 hours a week
The Scio branch keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
33% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 65%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Scio Memorial Library serves 2,121 people in and around Scio, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Scio’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Scio is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns. Scio is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Scio’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Scio Memorial Library spends $27 per resident, against a typical $54 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) 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 Scio
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.2%
4.2% of Scio’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Scio’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Scio Memorial Library serves 2,121 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, for the whole Scio Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,037 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
824 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
Scio Memorial Library, 3980 State Rt. 19, Scio.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Scio Memorial Library branch.
New in Scio? 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 $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Scio cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $101K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K 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 364 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellsville | David A Howe Public Library fine-free | 12.9 | 49 | B+ |
| Amity | Free Library of the Belmont Literary and Hist fine-free | 4.6 | 20 | A− |
| Andover | Andover Free Library fine-free | 3.4 | 20 | B |
| Scio | Scio Memorial Library fine-free | — | 20 | D |
| Wirt | Colonial Library fine-free | — | 26 | C+ |
| Alma | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ward | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Scio Memorial Library serves 2,121 people in and around Scio, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Scio.
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 Scio
Does Scio have a public library?
Yes. Scio Memorial Library, 3980 State Rt. 19, serves 2,121 people in and around Scio (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Scio Memorial 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 Scio’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Scio’s civic life grade?
D Scio is ahead of 12% 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 Scio.
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.