Provine Service Station · Photo: Batterup55 · CC BY-SA 4.0Hydro’s library runs 10 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Hydro Public Library serves Hydro’s 903 residents. Last year it lent 1,574 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,860 visits.
What Hydro’s library is like
Open only about 15 hours a week
Hydro Public Library keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Hydro Public Library serves 903 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Federal money pays a real share
21% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 69% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Hydro Public Library offered 9 programs last year, 10 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Hydro’s civic life grade
Hydro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hydro Public Library serves 903 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1,574 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,369 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
9 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hydro last year.
Find it
Hydro Public Library, 530 N Broadway, Hydro.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hydro? 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 Hydro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $24K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 624 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Hydro
Does Hydro have a public library?
Yes. Hydro Public Library, 530 N Broadway, serves Hydro’s 903 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hydro Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hydro’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hydro’s civic life grade?
Hydro isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hydro.
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.