Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Sharon’s library runs 367 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Sharon Public Library serves Sharon’s 926 residents. Last year it lent 2,845 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,647 visits.
The short version on Sharon’s library
More library cards than residents
1,510 cards for 926 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Sharon Public Library ran 340 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 367 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Sharon Public Library serves 926 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 33 hours a week. 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 ↓
A place to get online
Sharon Public Library logs about 19 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 18 public computers. That’s 7.5 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Sharon’s civic life grade
Sharon 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 →
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Sharon last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Sharon Public Library serves 926 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
2,845 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 9,214 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
770 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Sharon Public Library, 133 Main St., Sharon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sharon? 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 $1.87 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sharon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $38K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $38K 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 1,510 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 Sharon
Does Sharon have a public library?
Yes. Sharon Public Library, 133 Main St., serves Sharon’s 926 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sharon Public 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 Sharon’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sharon’s civic life grade?
Sharon 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 Sharon.
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.