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NENebraska rankings

Towns that borrow the most from their library in Nebraska

Ranked by books, movies, e-books and other items the town’s public library lent in a year, per resident. 41 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Map of Central City 1 Central City 26.0 per resident Central City Public Library Map of West Point 2 West Point 16.9 per resident John A Stahl Library Kearney 3 Kearney 15.9 per resident Kearney Public Library
#TownLoans per residentLibraryLoans a year
1 Map of Central City Central City3,061 people 26.0 per resident Central City Public Library 80,483
2 Map of West Point West Point3,471 people 16.9 per resident John A Stahl Library 58,514
3 Kearney Kearney34,246 people 15.9 per resident Kearney Public Library 546,736
4 O'Neill O'Neill3,570 people 15.6 per resident O`neill Public Library 55,804
5 Papillion Papillion25,244 people 15.0 per resident Papillion Public Library 356,325
6 Seward Seward7,678 people 14.6 per resident Seward Memorial Library 112,080
7 St. Paul St. Paul2,758 people 14.5 per resident Saint Paul Public Library 35,191
8 Map of Ashland Ashland3,071 people 13.8 per resident Ashland Public Library 46,413
9 Ogallala Ogallala4,777 people 13.7 per resident Kathleen Lute Public Library 64,114
10 McCook McCook7,314 people 13.3 per resident Mccook Public Library 96,240
11 Map of Auburn Auburn3,470 people 12.7 per resident Auburn Memorial Library 44,454
12 Gretna Gretna9,193 people 11.8 per resident Gretna Public Library 106,575
13 Blair Blair7,914 people 11.7 per resident Blair Public Library & Technology Center 93,212
14 Map of York York8,141 people 11.4 per resident Kilgore Memorial Library 93,274
15 Map of Falls City Falls City4,077 people 10.8 per resident Falls City Library & Arts Center 43,714
16 Map of Crete Crete7,527 people 10.1 per resident Crete Public Library 75,890
17 Map of Gothenburg Gothenburg3,452 people 10.1 per resident Gothenburg Public Library 34,688
18 Norfolk Norfolk26,054 people 10.0 per resident Norfolk Public Library 260,499
19 Broken Bow Broken Bow3,502 people 9.8 per resident Broken Bow Public Library 34,795
20 Wayne Wayne6,121 people 9.3 per resident Wayne Public Library 57,470
21 Map of Wahoo Wahoo4,929 people 9.2 per resident Wahoo Public Library 46,124
22 Aurora Aurora4,664 people 9.1 per resident Alice M Farr Library 42,865
23 Nebraska City Nebraska City7,369 people 8.6 per resident Morton-James Public Library 63,854
24 Scottsbluff Scottsbluff14,376 people 8.3 per resident Lied Scottsbluff Public Library 118,567
25 La Vista La Vista16,563 people 8.2 per resident La Vista Public Library 134,286
26 Cozad Cozad3,937 people 8.1 per resident Wilson Public Library 31,752
27 Plattsmouth Plattsmouth6,731 people 7.6 per resident Plattsmouth Public Library 51,931
28 Map of Alliance Alliance8,075 people 7.1 per resident Alliance Public Library 57,595
29 Map of Chadron Chadron5,160 people 7.0 per resident Chadron Public Library 36,066
30 Columbus Columbus24,488 people 6.6 per resident Columbus Public Library 161,875
31 Grand Island Grand Island52,884 people 6.1 per resident Grand Island Public Library 322,121
32 Bellevue Bellevue64,510 people 5.9 per resident Bellevue Public Library 380,184
33 Fairbury Fairbury3,888 people 5.8 per resident Fairbury Public Library 22,122
34 Map of Beatrice Beatrice12,225 people 5.2 per resident Beatrice Public Library 64,351
35 Minden Minden3,108 people 5.0 per resident Jensen Memorial Library 15,794
36 Map of Gering Gering8,550 people 4.7 per resident Gering Public Library 40,297
37 Map of Fremont Fremont27,567 people 4.4 per resident Keene Memorial Library 124,180
38 Map of Milford Milford2,565 people 3.6 per resident Webermeier Memorial Library 7,946
39 Map of Schuyler Schuyler6,578 people 3.3 per resident Schuyler Public Library 21,741
40 Lexington Lexington10,862 people 2.8 per resident Lexington Public Library 30,072
41 Map of South Sioux City South Sioux City13,907 people 1.3 per resident South Sioux City Public Library 17,620

How this ranking works

We rank every town by books, movies, e-books and other items the town’s public library lent in a year, per resident. The highest figure ranks #1. Each library reports its own yearly numbers to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (fiscal year 2024), and each town’s Library page shows how it compares with libraries of a similar size nationwide.

A town is ranked only when its library system serves that town alone, and the library’s own count of the people it serves is within 20% of the town’s population. Towns served by a county or regional system, or sharing a library with a neighbor, can’t be credited with the numbers, so they aren’t ranked. Libraries that didn’t respond to the survey aren’t ranked either. Vacation towns can rank high because summer residents and visitors use the library too.

Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Libraries: IMLS Public Libraries Survey. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.

Same ranking in other states

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