Photo: Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster) · CC BY-SA 4.0Sherman’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Minerva Free Library serves Sherman’s 1,622 residents. Last year it lent 6,765 print books and media and logged 2,201 visits.
The short version on Sherman’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
67% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 32%. What your card is worth ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Sherman’s library lends 4.2 items per resident. Each of the four neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by North Harmony at 8.5. Libraries next door ↓
A small-town library
Minerva Free Library serves 1,622 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. 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 ↓
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 Sherman’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sherman is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns. Sherman’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$65K) 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Sherman
5.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Sherman’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 Sherman’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Minerva Free Library serves 1,622 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,765 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,172 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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 Sherman last year.
Find it
Minerva Free Library, 116 Miller Street, Sherman.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sherman? 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 $2.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sherman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $115K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 344 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Sherman ranks 5th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Harmony | Ashville Free Library | 8.5 | 47 | A− |
| Westfield | Patterson Library fine-free | 6.3 | 46 | A |
| Mina | Alexander Findley Community Library fine-free | 6.3 | 22 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Chautauqua | Mayville Library fine-free | 4.5 | 38 | A− |
| Sherman | Minerva Free Library fine-free | 4.2 | 25 | C+ |
| Clymer | Clymer-French Creek Free Library fine-free | — | 25 | B− |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Sherman
Does Sherman have a public library?
Yes. Minerva Free Library, 116 Miller Street, serves Sherman’s 1,622 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Minerva Free 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 Sherman’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 4.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sherman’s civic life grade?
C+ Sherman is ahead of 45% 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 Sherman.
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.