Photo: Dough4872 · Public domainSabina’s library lends 2.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Sabina Public Library serves 7,820 people in and around Sabina. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K visits.
The short version on Sabina’s library
More library cards than residents
9,910 cards for 7,820 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
66% of the budget comes from the state, and 23% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 156 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; Sabina Public Library serves 7,820 people in and around Sabina, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sabina’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sabina is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns. Sabina is graded on two of the three inputs. Sabina’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$61K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Sabina
5.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Sabina’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Sabina’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sabina Public Library serves 7,820 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sabina Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,540 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
Sabina Public Library, 11 E. Elm St., Sabina.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sabina Public Library branch.
New in Sabina? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sabina cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $366K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $333K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $366K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 9,910 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sabina Public Library serves 7,820 people in and around Sabina, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sabina.
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 Sabina
Does Sabina have a public library?
Yes. Sabina Public Library, 11 E. Elm St., serves 7,820 people in and around Sabina (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sabina Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sabina’s library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sabina’s civic life grade?
C+ Sabina is ahead of 42% 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 Sabina.
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.