Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Sisters’ library is a branch of Deschutes Public Library District, which lends more per resident than 74% of systems its size
Sisters’s library is the Sisters Library, a branch of Deschutes Public Library District, which serves 212,141 people and lent 1.2M items last year.
What stands out about Sisters Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sisters’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sisters is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #5 of 106 in Oregon. Sisters is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Sisters’ 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Sisters
10.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.7%
11.7% of Sisters’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon 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 Sisters’ residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sisters cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 83,843 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Deschutes Public Library District serves 212,141 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 77 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Deschutes Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.2M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
About 13 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
Sisters Library, 110 N Cedar St., Sisters.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Deschutes Public Library District branch.
New in Sisters? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Sisters Library is one branch of Deschutes Public Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 212,141 people it serves.
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 Sisters
Does Sisters have a public library?
Yes: Sisters Library, 110 N Cedar St., is a branch of Deschutes Public Library District, which serves 212,141 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Deschutes Public Library District fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Sisters’ library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Sisters’ civic life grade?
A+ Sisters is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 of 106 in Oregon. 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 Sisters.
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.