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Lake Butler Woman's ClubLake Butler Woman's Club · Photo: Ebyabe · CC BY 2.5
Union County Public Library · part of New River Public Library Cooperative

Lake Butler’s library is a branch of New River Public Library Cooperative, which lends less per resident than 85% of systems its size

Lake Butler’s library is the Union County Public Library, a branch of New River Public Library Cooperative, which serves 64,798 people and lent 78K items last year.

250 Southeast 5th Avenue, Lake Butler 32054 · about 52 hours a week
C+Civic lifeAhead of 44% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (386) 496-3432 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
78K
1.2 per resident
Visits a year
114K
1.8 per resident · Below typical (2.6)
Programs & events
358
about 7 a week · 11K attended
Cardholders
99%
64,001 cards
Open
52 hrs
a week at this branch
In brief

What Lake Butler’s library is like

Nearly everyone the system serves has a card

64,001 cards for 64,798 people, or 99%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓

Florida pays a big share

46% of the budget comes from the state, and 52% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓

Few programs for a library this size

The New River Public Library Cooperative system offered 358 programs last year, 5.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. 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; Lake Butler’s library is a branch of New River Public Library Cooperative, so they cover the whole system (64,798 people), not just the Lake Butler branch.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Lake Butler’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Butler is ahead of 44% of U.S. towns. Lake Butler is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Lake Butler’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.

C+
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Butler’s overall grade.
–Library visitsServed by a county or regional system, so there is no town figureC+Community nonprofits3.3 per 1,000 residents · FL towns 3.3 · U.S. 3.7B−Volunteering7.8% of adults 25–44 · FL towns 5.6% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 44%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $37K–$62K (4,936)Ahead of 44%

Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($37K–$62K) 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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Lake Butler is small (1,921 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Butler

3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans10.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services10.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education10.37 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.12 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other00.31 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

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.

Volunteering

7.8%

7.8% of Lake Butler’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Lake Butler’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 1.8 visits · typical 2.6Lower than 70%
Borrowing per resident 1.2 print items · typical 3.7Lower than 85%
Program attendance 0.2 attendees · typical 0.3Lower than 77%
Programs offered 5.5 per 1,000 residents · typical 14Lower than 88%
Cardholders 99% of residents · typical 39%Top 10%
Spending $25 per resident · typical $40Lower than 74%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Size group

New River Public Library Cooperative serves 64,798 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out

Fiscal year 2024, for the whole New River Public Library Cooperative system. The library’s own count.

114K
visits
1.8 per resident
78K
loans, print + digital
1.2 per resident
358
programs & events
11K attended
64K
library cards
99% of people served
Every open hour11items borrowed
Every week215people at a program
Every day99Wi-Fi sessions
20 staff (full-time equivalent)59 public computers
What people borrow

Books and media off the shelf

78K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.

The survey has no count of children’s loans for Lake Butler’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.

Kids & programs

About 3 kids’ programs a week

Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.

Schools in Lake Butler →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–5112
Ages 6–1151
Teens54
Adults121
All ages20
Little ones
2.2

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

11K
people at programs
358
programs
The building

Find it

Union County Public Library, 250 Southeast 5th Avenue, Lake Butler.

Directions(386) 496-3432
52
hours open a week
9,000
square feet
With a card

Good at every New River Public Library Cooperative branch.

New in Lake Butler? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Butler cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

Who pays for it
$25 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.

Local taxes 52%State 46%Federal 0%Gifts & other 1%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 64,001 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
  • System-wide. Union County Public Library is one branch of New River Public Library Cooperative, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 64,798 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 Lake Butler

Does Lake Butler have a public library?

Yes: Union County Public Library, 250 Southeast 5th Avenue, is a branch of New River Public Library Cooperative, which serves 64,798 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is New River Public Library Cooperative fine-free?

It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).

How busy is Lake Butler’s library?

It logged 1.8 visits and lent 1.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.

What is Lake Butler’s civic life grade?

C+ Lake Butler 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 Lake Butler.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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.