Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Gretna’s library lends 8.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Gretna Public Library serves Gretna’s 9,054 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 36K visits.
The short version on Gretna’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 77% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 21 items per child in Gretna last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs draw a crowd
18,000 people came to the library’s 635 programs last year: 2 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. 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 Gretna’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Gretna is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #45 of 55 in Nebraska. Library visits hold the grade up; Gretna’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($93K–$155K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Gretna
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
8.2%
8.2% of Gretna’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 Gretna’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 Gretna 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.
Gretna Public Library serves 9,054 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
28,612 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Gretna
Gretna Public Library, 736 South Street, Gretna.
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 Gretna? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Gretna
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Gretna cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $605K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $605K 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 7,466 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.
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.
- 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 Gretna
Does Gretna have a public library?
Yes. Gretna Public Library, 736 South Street, serves Gretna’s 9,054 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Gretna 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 Gretna’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Gretna’s civic life grade?
C+ Gretna is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #45 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 Gretna.
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.