Sayner’s library logs 9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Plum Lake Public Library serves Sayner’s 2,358 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
The short version on Sayner’s library
A small-town library
Plum Lake Public Library serves 2,358 residents with about 2 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 72%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Plum Lake Public Library holds 28,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Sayner’s civic life grade
Sayner 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Plum Lake Public Library serves 2,358 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
4,414 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
173 programs a year
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.
Find it
Plum Lake Public Library, 8789 Peterson St., Sayner.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Sayner? 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 $2.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Sayner cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $157K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $347K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $157K 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 1,159 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sayner | Plum Lake Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Plum Lake | Plum Lake Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | 33 | — under 1,000 residents |
| St. Germain | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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 Sayner
Does Sayner have a public library?
Yes. Plum Lake Public Library, 8789 Peterson St., serves Sayner’s 2,358 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plum Lake 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 Sayner’s library?
It logged 9.0 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Sayner’s civic life grade?
Sayner 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 Sayner.
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.