Telocvicna Jednota "T.J." Sokol Hall · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Crete’s library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Crete Public Library serves Crete’s 7,488 residents. Last year it lent 76K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
What Crete’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 70% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Crete last year. Kids & programs ↓
Crete uses its library more than almost any town its size
Crete Public Library logs 7.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.7 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 88% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. 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 Crete’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Crete is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #41 of 55 in Nebraska. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Crete
4.3 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of Crete’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 Crete’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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 Crete 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.
Crete Public Library serves 7,488 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
76K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 32K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
10,654 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Crete Public Library, 1515 Forest Avenue, Crete.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Crete? 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 $1.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Crete cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $616K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $616K 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 3,988 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 Crete
Does Crete have a public library?
Yes. Crete Public Library, 1515 Forest Avenue, serves Crete’s 7,488 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crete 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 Crete’s library?
It logged 7.8 visits and lent 10.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Crete’s civic life grade?
B− Crete is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #41 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 Crete.
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.