Hotel Chadron · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainChadron’s library logs 14 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Chadron Public Library serves Chadron’s 5,145 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 74K visits.
What Chadron’s library is like
Top 10% in Nebraska for library use
Chadron ranks #4 of 41 Nebraska towns with a library of their own for visits per resident. That’s 14 visits per resident, more than at 98% of similar-size libraries nationwide. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Chadron Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Today’s library there has 5,500 square feet. The building ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 247 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 62 were for children. 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.
What’s behind Chadron’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Chadron is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #1 of 55 in Nebraska. 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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Chadron
8.7 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.8%
10.8% of Chadron’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 Chadron’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Chadron Public Library serves 5,145 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
12,726 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Chadron last year.
A National Register landmark since 1990
Chadron Public Library, 507 Bordeaux Street, Chadron.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Chadron? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Chadron Public Library
Chadron Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 21, 1990. It is significant for its town planning and education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Chadron Public Library, at 507 Bordeaux St. in Chadron, Nebraska, is a historic Carnegie library in a Classical Revival-style building designed by architect George A. Berlinghof. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Chadron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $361K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $577K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $361K 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 3,193 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 Chadron
Does Chadron have a public library?
Yes. Chadron Public Library, 507 Bordeaux Street, serves Chadron’s 5,145 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chadron 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 Chadron’s library?
It logged 14.4 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Chadron’s civic life grade?
A+ Chadron is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Chadron.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.