Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 3.0Sherman’s library runs 7.8 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Sherman Public Library serves Sherman’s 47,473 residents. Last year it lent 151K books, movies and e-books and logged 80K visits.
What stands out about Sherman’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sherman’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Sherman is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #285 of 539 in Texas. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Sherman’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Sherman Public Library spends $23 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($44K–$74K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
169 community nonprofits are registered in Sherman
3.6 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 (55 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Sherman’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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 Sherman’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Sherman Public Library serves 47,473 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
151K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
43,152 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Sherman last year.
Find it
Sherman Public Library, 421 N Travis St., Sherman.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sherman? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sherman cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.1M 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 11,672 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denison | Denison Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 46 | C+ |
| Sherman | Sherman Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 51 | C− |
| Howe | Howe Community Library fine-free | — | 46 | B |
| Knollwood | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dorchester | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Sherman
Does Sherman have a public library?
Yes. Sherman Public Library, 421 N Travis St., serves Sherman’s 47,473 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Sherman 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 Sherman’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Sherman’s civic life grade?
C− Sherman is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #285 of 539 in Texas. 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 Sherman.
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.