Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBlair’s library lends 7.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Blair Public Library & Technology Center serves Blair’s 7,967 residents. Last year it lent 93K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
What Blair’s library is like
More library cards than residents
9,881 cards for 7,967 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 16 items per child in Blair last year. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 34% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 177 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.4 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Blair invests in its library
Blair Public Library & Technology Center spends $111 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it 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.
What’s behind Blair’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Blair is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns, #13 of 55 in Nebraska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Blair’s count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
72 community nonprofits are registered in Blair
9.1 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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Blair’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 Blair’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
93K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 42K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
31,701 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 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Blair Public Library & Technology Center serves 7,967 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Blair last year.
Find it
Blair Public Library & Technology Center, 2233 Civic Dr, Blair.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Blair? 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 $1.58 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blair cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $888K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $888K 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 9,881 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blair | Blair Public Library & Technology Center fine-free | 11.7 | 53 | A |
| Township 6 | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Township 2 | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Township 5 | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
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 Blair
Does Blair have a public library?
Yes. Blair Public Library & Technology Center, 2233 Civic Dr, serves Blair’s 7,967 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blair Public Library & Technology Center 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 Blair’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 11.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Blair’s civic life grade?
A Blair is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Blair.
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.