Photo: Doug Kerr · CC BY-SA 2.0Sugar Grove’s library runs 49 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Sugar Grove Free Library serves 4,813 people in and around Sugar Grove. Last year it lent 7,261 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,949 visits.
The short version on Sugar Grove’s library
Sugar Grove Free Library is used less than most libraries its size
Sugar Grove Free Library records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
58% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 8% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Sugar Grove Free Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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; Sugar Grove Free Library serves 4,813 people in and around Sugar Grove, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Sugar Grove’s civic life grade
Sugar Grove 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Sugar Grove Free Library serves 4,813 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Sugar Grove Free Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
7,261 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,724 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
237 programs a year
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
Sugar Grove Free Library, 22 Harmon St., Sugar Grove.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Sugar Grove Free Library branch.
New in Sugar Grove? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sugar Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $55K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $132K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $55K 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 406 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Sugar Grove Free Library serves 4,813 people in and around Sugar Grove, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Sugar Grove.
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 Sugar Grove
Does Sugar Grove have a public library?
Yes. Sugar Grove Free Library, 22 Harmon St., serves 4,813 people in and around Sugar Grove (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sugar Grove Free 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 Sugar Grove’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Sugar Grove’s civic life grade?
Sugar Grove 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 Sugar Grove.
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.