Hugo Municipal Pool · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Hugo’s library lends 5.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Hugo Public Library serves Hugo’s 780 residents. Last year it lent 4,404 print books and media and logged 3,785 visits.
The short version on Hugo’s library
A small-town library
Hugo Public Library serves 780 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Hugo Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 57%. What your card is worth ↓
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 Hugo’s civic life grade
Hugo 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hugo Public Library serves 780 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
4,404 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
14 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Hugo last year.
Find it
Hugo Public Library, 522 Second Avenue, Hugo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Hugo? 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 $2.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hugo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $34K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $71K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $34K 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 295 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hugo Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Hugo
Does Hugo have a public library?
Yes. Hugo Public Library, 522 Second Avenue, serves Hugo’s 780 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hugo Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Hugo’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 5.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hugo’s civic life grade?
Hugo 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 Hugo.
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.