Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainDavid City’s library lends 7.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Hruska Memorial Public Library serves 8,459 people in and around David City. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 20K visits.
What stands out about Hruska Memorial Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind David City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, David City is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #9 of 55 in Nebraska. David City is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; David City’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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in David City
8.5 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.6%
8.6% of David City’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 David City’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hruska Memorial Public Library serves 8,459 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hruska Memorial Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
7,578 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hruska Memorial Public Library, 399 North 5th Street, David City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hruska Memorial Public Library branch.
New in David City? 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 $4.86 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average David City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $219K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $219K 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 2,998 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David City | Hruska Memorial Public Library fine-free | — | 42 | A |
| Franklin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Olive Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Hruska Memorial Public Library serves 8,459 people in and around David City, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just David City.
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 David City
Does David City have a public library?
Yes. Hruska Memorial Public Library, 399 North 5th Street, serves 8,459 people in and around David City (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hruska Memorial Public Library 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 David City’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is David City’s civic life grade?
A David City is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 David City.
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.