Midway Stage Station · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainGothenburg’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Gothenburg Public Library serves Gothenburg’s 3,430 residents. Last year it lent 35K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What Gothenburg’s library is like
More library cards than residents
4,358 cards for 3,430 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Gothenburg last year. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 248 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.9 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. Today’s library there has 10,000 square feet. The building ↓
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 Gothenburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gothenburg is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #36 of 55 in Nebraska. Gothenburg’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 Gothenburg
8.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (7 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 Gothenburg’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 Gothenburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Gothenburg 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.
Gothenburg Public Library serves 3,430 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
35K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
6,820 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1986
Gothenburg Public Library, 1104 Lake Avenue, Gothenburg.
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 Gothenburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Public Library
Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 19, 1986. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the state level. Its architecture is described as Vernacular and Jacobethan Revival.
The Carnegie Public Library, also known as the Gothenburg Public Library, is a historic Carnegie library building in Gothenburg, Nebraska. It was built in 1915–1916 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, and designed in the Jacobethan Revival style by architect Morse N. Bair. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 19, 1986.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gothenburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $273K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $530K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $273K 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 4,358 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 Gothenburg
Does Gothenburg have a public library?
Yes. Gothenburg Public Library, 1104 Lake Avenue, serves Gothenburg’s 3,430 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gothenburg 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 Gothenburg’s library?
It logged 4.4 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 Gothenburg’s civic life grade?
B Gothenburg is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 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 Gothenburg.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.