Barnes Oil Company · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Ashland’s library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Ashland Public Library serves Ashland’s 3,367 residents. Last year it lent 46K books, movies and e-books and logged 57K visits.
What Ashland’s library is like
Ashland ranks 3rd in Nebraska for library use
Out of 41 Nebraska towns with a library of their own, Ashland comes 3rd for visits per resident. It’s also #3 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Ashland uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ashland Public Library logs 17 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 93% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 80% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 98% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Ashland last year. Kids & programs ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Ashland Public Library ran 507 programs last year, about 10 a week. That’s 151 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 8,582 attended. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Ashland Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983. Today’s library there has 14,315 square feet. The building ↓
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 Ashland’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ashland is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #5 of 55 in Nebraska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Ashland Public Library logged 16.9 visits per resident in FY2024, #48 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Ashland
8.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
8.8%
8.8% of Ashland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Nebraska 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 Ashland’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Ashland Public Library serves 3,367 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
46K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.1 times last year, on average.
9,103 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Ashland last year.
A National Register landmark since 1983
Ashland Public Library, 1324 Silver Street, Ashland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ashland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Ashland Public Library
Ashland Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jan 27, 1983. It is significant for its education and architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Jacobethan Revival Style.
The Ashland Public Library is a historic building in Ashland, Nebraska. It was built by W.R. Shankland as a Carnegie library in 1911. Besides the $5,500 donation from Andrew Carnegie, its construction had much to do with the Wiggenhorn family: the land was donated by Mr and Mrs Wiggenhorn Jr., and the roof was donated by H. A. Wiggenhorn.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ashland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $270K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $765K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $270K 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 2,405 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Ashland’s 56,801 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Ashland
Does Ashland have a public library?
Yes. Ashland Public Library, 1324 Silver Street, serves Ashland’s 3,367 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ashland Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Ashland’s library?
It logged 16.9 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Ashland’s civic life grade?
A Ashland is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 of 55 in Nebraska. 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 Ashland.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.