Pioneer Cemetery · Photo: Renee2k · CC BY-SA 3.0Sidney’s library runs 77 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Sidney Memorial Public Library serves 7,317 people in and around Sidney. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 32K visits.
The short version on Sidney’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
42% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 50%. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
70% of the 561 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 4.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Sidney Memorial Public Library spends $92 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 75% 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 Memorial Public Library serves 7,317 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 94% of U.S. towns, #30 of 751 in New York. Sidney is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sidney’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Sidney
8.3 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.1%
10.1% of Sidney’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 Sidney’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.15 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 $674K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $775K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $674K 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 4,059 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sidney Memorial Public Library serves 7,317 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sidney Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,149 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 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 Memorial Public Library, 8 River Street, Sidney.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sidney Memorial Public Library branch.
New in Sidney? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unadilla | Unadilla Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 23 | C+ |
| Unadilla | Unadilla Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 23 | C+ |
| Bainbridge | Bainbridge Free Library fine-free | 2.7 | 25 | C+ |
| Walton | William B. Ogden Free Library fine-free | 2.7 | 35 | B+ |
| Franklin | Franklin Free Library fine-free | 2.3 | 23 | B− |
| Otego | Harris Memorial Library fine-free | 1.1 | 36 | B− |
| Sidney | Sidney Memorial Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A |
| Masonville | Masonville Branch Library fine-free | — | 23 | C+ |
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. Sidney Memorial Public Library serves 7,317 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 Memorial Public Library, 8 River Street, serves 7,317 people in and around Sidney (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sidney Memorial 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 Sidney’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sidney’s civic life grade?
A Sidney is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #30 of 751 in New York. 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.