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US Post Office-Sedro Woolley MainUS Post Office-Sedro Woolley Main · Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sedro-Woolley Library · part of Central Skagit Library District

Sedro-Woolley’s library is a branch of Central Skagit Library District, which lends more per resident than 70% of systems its size

Sedro-Woolley’s library is the Sedro-Woolley Library, a branch of Central Skagit Library District, which serves 30,129 people and lent 225K items last year.

110 West State Street, Sedro-Woolley 98284 · about 46 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 37% of U.S. towns · #97 of 152 in Washington. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
225K
7.5 per resident
Visits a year
83K
2.8 per resident · Above typical (2.6)
Programs & events
692
about 13 a week · 13K attended
Cardholders
51%
15,386 cards
Open
46 hrs
a week at this branch

What stands out about Sedro-Woolley Library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Sedro-Woolley’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sedro-Woolley is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #97 of 152 in Washington. Sedro-Woolley is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Sedro-Woolley’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Sedro-Woolley’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 37%
FewerMore
Washington towns we grade (152)Ahead of 36%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $61K–$101K (9,102)Ahead of 36%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($61K–$101K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

33 community nonprofits are registered in Sedro-Woolley

2.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture10.07 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation60.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans60.50 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services50.39 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education60.46 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.04 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals30.21 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other60.43 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

8.3%

8.3% of Sedro-Woolley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.7% in the typical Washington 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 Sedro-Woolley’s residents live; 2022.

How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 2.8 visits · typical 2.6Higher than 54%
Borrowing per resident 5.9 print items · typical 3.7Higher than 70%
Digital borrowing 1.6 e-items · typical 1.2Higher than 63%
Kids’ borrowing 2.8 kids’ items · typical 1.7Higher than 71%
Program attendance 0.4 attendees · typical 0.3Higher than 67%
Programs offered 23 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Higher than 76%
Cardholders 51% of residents · typical 39%Higher than 69%
Spending $46 per resident · typical $40Higher than 57%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

Central Skagit Library District serves 30,129 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 94 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Central Skagit Library District system. The library’s own count.

83K
visits
2.8 per resident
225K
loans, print + digital
7.5 per resident
692
programs & events
13K attended
15K
library cards
51% of people served
Every open hour94items borrowed
Every week259people at a program
Every day28Wi-Fi sessions
9 staff (full-time equivalent)28 public computers
What people borrow

Almost half the print loans are kids’ books

225K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

225Kloans
Books & media (adults) 41%Kids’ books & media 37%E-books, audio & streaming 21%
From your couch

48,057 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

Kids & programs

About 7 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Sedro-Woolley →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5236
Ages 6–11103
Teens212
Adults123
All ages18
Little ones
4.5

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

84K
kids’ books & media borrowed
13K
people at programs
692
programs
The building

Find it

Sedro-Woolley Library, 110 West State Street, Sedro-Woolley.

46
hours open a week
11,568
square feet
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Central Skagit Library District branch.

New in Sedro-Woolley? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.52 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sedro-Woolley cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$46 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.

Local taxes 83%State 6%Federal 0%Gifts & other 10%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 15,386 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • System-wide. Sedro-Woolley Library is one branch of Central Skagit Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 30,129 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 Sedro-Woolley

Does Sedro-Woolley have a public library?

Yes: Sedro-Woolley Library, 110 West State Street, is a branch of Central Skagit Library District, which serves 30,129 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Central Skagit Library District 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 Sedro-Woolley’s library?

It logged 2.8 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Sedro-Woolley’s civic life grade?

C+ Sedro-Woolley is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #97 of 152 in Washington. 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 Sedro-Woolley.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.