Gov. Arthur J. Weaver House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Falls City’s library lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Falls City Library & Arts Center serves Falls City’s 4,045 residents. Last year it lent 44K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
The short version on Falls City’s library
Nearly everyone in Falls City has a card
3,747 cards for 4,045 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Falls City is a town of borrowers
Falls City Library & Arts Center lends 9.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Falls City Library & Arts Center holds 66,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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 Falls City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Falls City is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #31 of 55 in Nebraska. Falls City’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Falls City
7.4 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Falls 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 Falls City’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
44K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 66K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
5,694 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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.
Falls City Library & Arts Center serves 4,045 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 3 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 Falls City last year.
Find it
Falls City Library & Arts Center, 1400 Stone Street, Falls City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Falls 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 $2.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Falls City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $340K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $729K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $340K 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 3,747 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 Falls City
Does Falls City have a public library?
Yes. Falls City Library & Arts Center, 1400 Stone Street, serves Falls City’s 4,045 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Falls City Library & Arts Center 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 Falls City’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 10.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Falls City’s civic life grade?
B+ Falls City is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 Falls 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.