Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBancroft Township’s library runs 81 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Bancroft Public Library serves 493 people in and around Bancroft Township. Last year it lent 2,924 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,859 visits.
What Bancroft Township’s library is like
A small-town library
Bancroft Public Library serves 493 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
Bancroft Public Library keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Lyons Public Library in Everett Township, next door, is open about 39 hours a week. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Bancroft Township has a card
439 cards for 493 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
45% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 45% of loans, more per resident than at 83% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 55%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
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 Bancroft Township’s civic life grade
Bancroft Township 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 →
45% of borrowing is digital
2,924 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,919 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,307 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bancroft Public Library serves 493 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
40 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.
Find it
Bancroft Public Library, 103 E. Poplar, Bancroft.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bancroft Township? 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 $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bancroft Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $36K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $49K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $36K 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 439 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everett Township | Lyons Public Library fine-free | 7.8 | 39 | — graded with its twin city |
| Bancroft Township | Bancroft Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 21 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cleveland Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Neligh Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Dawes Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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 Bancroft Township
Does Bancroft Township have a public library?
Yes. Bancroft Public Library, 103 E. Poplar, serves 493 people in and around Bancroft Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bancroft 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 Bancroft Township’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bancroft Township’s civic life grade?
Bancroft Township 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 Bancroft Township.
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.