Denver, Boulder and Western Railway Historic District · Photo: Don O'Brien from Piketon, Ohio, United States · CC BY 2.0Nederland’s library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Nederland Community Library District serves Nederland’s 3,498 residents. Last year it lent 42K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
Nederland’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
4,054 cards for 3,498 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Nederland uses its library more than almost any town its size
Nederland Community Library District logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nederland invests in its library
Nederland Community Library District spends $167 per resident a year, about four times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
Programs draw a crowd
6,431 people came to the library’s 196 programs last year: 1.8 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Nederland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Nederland is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Nederland is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Nederland near the top nationally; Nederland’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Nederland
12.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: environment & animals.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.8%
13.8% of Nederland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Nederland’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Nederland last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Nederland Community Library District serves 3,498 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
42K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
7,241 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
Find it
Nederland Community Library District, 200 Highway 72 North, Nederland.
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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nederland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $585K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $725K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $585K 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 4,054 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Nederland
Does Nederland have a public library?
Yes. Nederland Community Library District, 200 Highway 72 North, serves Nederland’s 3,498 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nederland Community Library District 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 Nederland’s library?
It logged 10.2 visits and lent 12.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Nederland’s civic life grade?
A+ Nederland is among the top 1% 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 Nederland.
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.