Photo: Brianboramha11 · CC BY-SA 4.0Berne’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Berne Public Library serves 4,173 people in and around Berne. Last year it lent 79K books, movies and e-books and logged 27K visits.
The short version on Berne’s library
Berne is a town of borrowers
Berne Public Library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 97% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
85% of the 216 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 47% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.5 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Berne invests in its library
Berne Public Library spends $88 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Berne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Berne is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #317 of 571 in Indiana. Berne is graded on two of the three inputs. Berne’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Berne
5.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Berne’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 Berne’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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.
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.
Berne Public Library serves 4,173 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
79K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
18,852 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Berne Public Library, 166 North Sprunger Street, Berne.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Berne? 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 $3.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Berne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $367K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $367K 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 1,961 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 Berne
Does Berne have a public library?
Yes. Berne Public Library, 166 North Sprunger Street, serves 4,173 people in and around Berne (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Berne Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Berne’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 19.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Berne’s civic life grade?
B− Berne is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #317 of 571 in Indiana. 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 Berne.
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.