Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainGeneva’s library logs 7.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Geneva Public Library serves Geneva’s 2,135 residents. Last year it lent 22K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Geneva’s library
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Geneva Public Library logs about 32 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 11 public computers. That’s 5.5 sessions per resident a year. 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 Geneva’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Geneva is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Geneva’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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Geneva
10.0 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.4%
5.4% of Geneva’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 Geneva’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
22K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
7,151 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 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Geneva Public Library serves 2,135 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Geneva last year.
Find it
Geneva Public Library, 1043 G Street, Geneva.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Geneva? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Geneva cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $197K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $398K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $197K 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 1,412 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 Geneva
Does Geneva have a public library?
Yes. Geneva Public Library, 1043 G Street, serves Geneva’s 2,135 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Geneva 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 Geneva’s library?
It logged 7.3 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Geneva’s civic life grade?
A− Geneva is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Geneva.
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.