Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBattle Creek’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lied Battle Creek Public Library serves Battle Creek’s 1,185 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What Battle Creek’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 73% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 27 items per child in Battle Creek last year. Kids & programs ↓
More library cards than residents
1,293 cards for 1,185 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 ↓
Battle Creek uses its library more than almost any town its size
Lied Battle Creek Public Library logs 10 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 90% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Lied Battle Creek Public Library serves 1,185 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 43 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 ↓
Battle Creek invests in its library
Lied Battle Creek Public Library spends $133 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Battle Creek’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Battle Creek is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Battle Creek
8.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
8.3%
8.3% of Battle Creek’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 Battle Creek’s residents live; 2022.
60 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Battle Creek last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lied Battle Creek Public Library serves 1,185 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,364 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Lied Battle Creek Public Library, 100 S. 4th Street, Battle Creek.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Battle Creek? 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 $1.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Battle Creek cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $158K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $269K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $158K 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 1,293 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 Battle Creek
Does Battle Creek have a public library?
Yes. Lied Battle Creek Public Library, 100 S. 4th Street, serves Battle Creek’s 1,185 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lied Battle Creek 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 Battle Creek’s library?
It logged 10.1 visits and lent 15.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Battle Creek’s civic life grade?
A Battle Creek is ahead of 92% 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 Battle Creek.
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.