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NENebraska rankings

Towns with the most-used public libraries in Nebraska

Ranked by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 41 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Wayne
Nebraska · Most-used libraries

Where Wayne lands: #19 of 41

5.4 per resident library visits a year · Visit Wayne →

St. Paul 1 St. Paul 20.5 per resident Saint Paul Public Library Map of Central City 2 Central City 17.7 per resident Central City Public Library Map of Ashland 3 Ashland 16.9 per resident Ashland Public Library
#TownVisits per residentLibraryVisits a year
1 St. Paul St. Paul2,758 people 20.5 per resident Saint Paul Public Library 49,808
2 Map of Central City Central City3,061 people 17.7 per resident Central City Public Library 54,680
3 Map of Ashland Ashland3,071 people 16.9 per resident Ashland Public Library 56,801
4 Map of Chadron Chadron5,160 people 14.4 per resident Chadron Public Library 74,204
5 Map of West Point West Point3,471 people 10.0 per resident John A Stahl Library 34,678
6 Columbus Columbus24,488 people 7.9 per resident Columbus Public Library 192,592
7 Map of Crete Crete7,527 people 7.8 per resident Crete Public Library 58,721
8 Seward Seward7,678 people 7.3 per resident Seward Memorial Library 55,811
9 Cozad Cozad3,937 people 7.1 per resident Wilson Public Library 28,056
10 Broken Bow Broken Bow3,502 people 7.1 per resident Broken Bow Public Library 25,034
11 O'Neill O'Neill3,570 people 7.0 per resident O`neill Public Library 25,085
12 Plattsmouth Plattsmouth6,731 people 6.7 per resident Plattsmouth Public Library 45,784
13 Map of Auburn Auburn3,470 people 6.2 per resident Auburn Memorial Library 21,587
14 Papillion Papillion25,244 people 6.1 per resident Papillion Public Library 144,753
15 Map of Wahoo Wahoo4,929 people 6.1 per resident Wahoo Public Library 30,594
16 McCook McCook7,314 people 5.9 per resident Mccook Public Library 42,856
17 Map of Falls City Falls City4,077 people 5.9 per resident Falls City Library & Arts Center 23,890
18 Blair Blair7,914 people 5.8 per resident Blair Public Library & Technology Center 45,951
19 Wayne Wayne6,121 people 5.4 per resident Wayne Public Library 33,584
20 Norfolk Norfolk26,054 people 5.0 per resident Norfolk Public Library 130,105
21 Scottsbluff Scottsbluff14,376 people 5.0 per resident Lied Scottsbluff Public Library 71,636
22 Map of York York8,141 people 4.9 per resident Kilgore Memorial Library 39,785
23 Minden Minden3,108 people 4.9 per resident Jensen Memorial Library 15,508
24 Kearney Kearney34,246 people 4.7 per resident Kearney Public Library 161,557
25 La Vista La Vista16,563 people 4.5 per resident La Vista Public Library 73,368
26 Ogallala Ogallala4,777 people 4.4 per resident Kathleen Lute Public Library 20,518
27 Map of Gothenburg Gothenburg3,452 people 4.4 per resident Gothenburg Public Library 14,928
28 Nebraska City Nebraska City7,369 people 4.2 per resident Morton-James Public Library 30,993
29 Fairbury Fairbury3,888 people 4.1 per resident Fairbury Public Library 15,870
30 Gretna Gretna9,193 people 4.0 per resident Gretna Public Library 35,785
31 Map of Alliance Alliance8,075 people 3.8 per resident Alliance Public Library 30,789
32 Map of Gering Gering8,550 people 3.5 per resident Gering Public Library 29,477
33 Map of South Sioux City South Sioux City13,907 people 3.2 per resident South Sioux City Public Library 44,579
34 Map of Beatrice Beatrice12,225 people 3.2 per resident Beatrice Public Library 39,019
35 Map of Schuyler Schuyler6,578 people 3.1 per resident Schuyler Public Library 20,264
36 Lexington Lexington10,862 people 3.0 per resident Lexington Public Library 32,391
37 Bellevue Bellevue64,510 people 2.0 per resident Bellevue Public Library 127,446
38 Grand Island Grand Island52,884 people 2.0 per resident Grand Island Public Library 106,669
39 Map of Fremont Fremont27,567 people 1.9 per resident Keene Memorial Library 53,092
40 Aurora Aurora4,664 people 1.9 per resident Alice M Farr Library 9,000
41 Map of Milford Milford2,565 people 0.9 per resident Webermeier Memorial Library 2,080

How this ranking works

We rank every town by library visits per resident in a year, at the public library that serves the town. 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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