Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainBruning’s library logs 6.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Bruning Public Library serves Bruning’s 272 residents. Last year it lent 3,121 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,698 visits.
Bruning’s library, in brief
Most of Bruning’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans, more per resident than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
Open only about 12 hours a week
Bruning Public Library keeps short hours: about 12 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Bruning Public Library serves 272 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Bruning has a card
263 cards for 272 people, or 97%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
840 people came to the library’s 27 programs last year: 3.1 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
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 Bruning’s civic life grade
Bruning 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 →
27 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Bruning Public Library serves 272 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
57% of borrowing is digital
3,121 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,379 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,784 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bruning Public Library, 117 Main Street, Bruning.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bruning? 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 $2.66 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bruning cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $21K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $57K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $21K 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 263 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 Bruning
Does Bruning have a public library?
Yes. Bruning Public Library, 117 Main Street, serves Bruning’s 272 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 12 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bruning 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 Bruning’s library?
It logged 6.2 visits and lent 11.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Bruning’s civic life grade?
Bruning 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 Bruning.
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.