Photo: Swcom · CC BY-SA 3.0Bucklin’s library lends 6.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Bucklin Public Library serves Bucklin’s 706 residents. Last year it lent 5,478 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,742 visits.
The short version on Bucklin’s library
More library cards than residents
802 cards for 706 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 ↓
Programs are almost all for children
91% of the 57 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 26 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Bucklin Public Library serves 706 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 28 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 ↓
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Bucklin Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with three in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Bucklin Public Library logs about 41 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 6 public computers. That’s 21 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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 Bucklin’s civic life grade
Bucklin 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 →
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bucklin cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $133K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 802 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bucklin Public Library serves 706 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.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,478 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Bucklin last year.
Find it
Bucklin Public Library, 120 S. Main, Bucklin.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bucklin? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 Bucklin
Does Bucklin have a public library?
Yes. Bucklin Public Library, 120 S. Main, serves Bucklin’s 706 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bucklin 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 Bucklin’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bucklin’s civic life grade?
Bucklin 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 Bucklin.
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.