Photo: Derek Jensen (Tysto) · Public domainSidney’s library logs 3.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial serves 48,230 people in and around Sidney. Last year it lent 202K books, movies and e-books and logged 175K visits.
The short version on Sidney’s library
Ohio pays a big share
94% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
51,698 cards for 48,230 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 645 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.7 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; Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial serves 48,230 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 53% of U.S. towns, #509 of 914 in Ohio. Sidney is graded on two of the three inputs. Sidney’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
99 community nonprofits are registered in Sidney
4.8 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 (34 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Sidney’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 Sidney’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial serves 48,230 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 22 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
202K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
74,118 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial, 230 E. North St., Sidney.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial branch.
New in Sidney? 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 $1.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sidney cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2M 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 51,698 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidney | Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Clinton Township | Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Orange Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Perry Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Washington Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Salem Township | None of its own | — | — | 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. Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial serves 48,230 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. Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial, 230 E. North St., serves 48,230 people in and around Sidney (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shelby County Libraries - Amos Memorial 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 3.6 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sidney’s civic life grade?
B− Sidney is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #509 of 914 in Ohio. 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.