Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBroken Bow’s library runs 99 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Broken Bow Public Library serves Broken Bow’s 3,542 residents. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 25K visits.
What Broken Bow’s library is like
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Broken Bow Public Library ran 352 programs last year, about 7 a week. That’s 99 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 6,298 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone in Broken Bow has a card
3,024 cards for 3,542 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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 Broken Bow’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Broken Bow is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #6 of 55 in Nebraska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Broken Bow’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 →
44 community nonprofits are registered in Broken Bow
12.6 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.3%
9.3% of Broken Bow’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 Broken Bow’s residents live; 2022.
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 Broken Bow last year.
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.
Broken Bow Public Library serves 3,542 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
11,582 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Broken Bow Public Library, 626 South D Street, Broken Bow.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Broken Bow? 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 $1.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Broken Bow cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $294K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $574K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $294K 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 3,024 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 Broken Bow
Does Broken Bow have a public library?
Yes. Broken Bow Public Library, 626 South D Street, serves Broken Bow’s 3,542 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Broken Bow 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 Broken Bow’s library?
It logged 7.1 visits and lent 9.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Broken Bow’s civic life grade?
A Broken Bow is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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 Broken Bow.
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.