Photo: Billwhittaker · CC BY-SA 3.0Lisbon’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Lisbon Public Library serves Lisbon’s 2,325 residents. Last year it lent 8,121 print books and media and logged 1,872 visits.
What Lisbon’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,393 cards for 2,325 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Lisbon Public Library serves 2,325 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 31 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 ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 74% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 71% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Lisbon Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.5 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Lisbon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lisbon is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns. Lisbon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lisbon’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Lisbon
7.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
8.6%
8.6% of Lisbon’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Lisbon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lisbon Public Library serves 2,325 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,121 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,977 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Lisbon last year.
Find it
Lisbon Public Library, 101 E Main St., Lisbon.
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 $1.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lisbon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $112K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $136K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $112K 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 3,393 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 Lisbon
Does Lisbon have a public library?
Yes. Lisbon Public Library, 101 E Main St., serves Lisbon’s 2,325 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lisbon Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lisbon’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 3.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lisbon’s civic life grade?
A Lisbon is ahead of 87% 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 Lisbon.
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.