Conant's Cabin and Park · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 3.0Gladbrook’s library logs 2.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Gladbrook Public Library serves Gladbrook’s 1,390 residents. Last year it lent 5,535 print books and media and logged 3,350 visits.
The short version on Gladbrook’s library
A small-town library
Gladbrook Public Library serves 1,390 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 hours a week. 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Gladbrook has a card
1,225 cards for 1,390 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
56% of the 99 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 44 were for children. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Gladbrook’s civic life grade
Gladbrook 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.
Gladbrook Public Library serves 1,390 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
5,535 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
99 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 Gladbrook last year.
Find it
Gladbrook Public Library, 301 2nd St., Gladbrook.
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 $1.81 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gladbrook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $96K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 1,225 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
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 Gladbrook
Does Gladbrook have a public library?
Yes. Gladbrook Public Library, 301 2nd St., serves Gladbrook’s 1,390 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gladbrook Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Gladbrook’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 4.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Gladbrook’s civic life grade?
Gladbrook 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 Gladbrook.
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.