Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Lincoln’s library is a branch of Washington County Library System, which lends more per resident than 68% of systems its size
Lincoln’s library is the Lincoln Public Library, a branch of Washington County Library System, which serves 159,869 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Lincoln Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Lincoln’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lincoln is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. Lincoln is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lincoln’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($51K–$85K) 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Lincoln
1.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Lincoln’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical Arkansas 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 Lincoln’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Washington County Library System serves 159,869 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 55 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washington County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
280,511 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Lincoln Public Library, 107 West Bean, Lincoln.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Washington County Library System branch.
New in Lincoln? 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 $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lincoln cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 33,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lincoln Public Library is one branch of Washington County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 159,869 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 Lincoln
Does Lincoln have a public library?
Yes: Lincoln Public Library, 107 West Bean, is a branch of Washington County Library System, which serves 159,869 people. The branch is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washington County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lincoln’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lincoln’s civic life grade?
C+ Lincoln is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Lincoln.
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.