Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Deshler’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Jennifer Reinke Public Library serves Deshler’s 725 residents. Last year it lent 9,994 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,466 visits.
Deshler’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 55% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Deshler last year. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 74%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
Open only about 18 hours a week
Jennifer Reinke Public Library keeps short hours: about 18 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A small-town library
Jennifer Reinke Public Library serves 725 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 ↓
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 Deshler’s civic life grade
Deshler 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 →
28 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Deshler last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Jennifer Reinke Public Library serves 725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
9,994 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,193 books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
1,418 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Jennifer Reinke Public Library, 311 East Pearl Avenue, Deshler.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Deshler? 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 $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Deshler cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $60K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $145K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $60K 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 251 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 Deshler
Does Deshler have a public library?
Yes. Jennifer Reinke Public Library, 311 East Pearl Avenue, serves Deshler’s 725 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 18 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jennifer Reinke 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 Deshler’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Deshler’s civic life grade?
Deshler 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 Deshler.
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.