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Harvard, Nebraska downtown 1Photo: Ammodramus · Public domain
Harvard Public Library

Harvard Public Library serves 945 people in and around Harvard Township

Harvard Public Library serves 945 people in and around Harvard Township.

309 North Clay Avenue, Harvard 68944
ACivic lifeAhead of 90% of U.S. towns. Nonprofits and volunteering.
Borrowed a year
—
Not reported for 2024
Visits a year
—
Not reported for 2024

What stands out about Harvard Township’s library

Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.

Civic life grade

What’s behind Harvard Township’s civic life grade

On community nonprofits and volunteering, Harvard Township is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Harvard Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.

A
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Harvard Township’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 90%
FewerMore
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $48K–$80K (8,437)Ahead of 88%

The survey’s stand-in for Harvard Township’s 2024 visits is its own estimate, so it is left out.

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.

How sure. Graded on two inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. Harvard Township is small (1,097 residents), so a few dozen organizations or visits move its per-resident figures; the volunteering share is a 2022 estimate from Facebook users aged 25–44.

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 →

Places to belong

5 community nonprofits are registered in Harvard Township

4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.

Community nonprofits, by kind

Arts & culture00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation10.94 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans21.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals00.00 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other21.87 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.47

Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

12.8%

12.8% of Harvard Township’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 Harvard Township’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · The building

A National Register landmark since 2022

Harvard Public Library, 309 North Clay Avenue, Harvard.

1,935
square feet
With a card

Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Harvard Township? The Handbook →

Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.

The building’s story

Harvard Carnegie Library

Harvard Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 8, 2022. It is significant for its education at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries in Nebraska MPS.

More about the building →
A year at the library

A year at Harvard Public Library

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.

What your card is worth

What a library card is worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Harvard Township resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
0
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
0
Your card saves you about
$204
a year at retail prices · $17 a month

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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 945 people it serves ÷ 12.

Next door

Libraries next door

Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.

12+ loans per resident8–124–8Under 4No library / shared system
TownLibraryLoans per residentHoursCivic life
Harvard TownshipHarvard Public Library——A
Eldorado TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Leicester TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents
Lynn TownshipNone of its own——— under 1,000 residents

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).

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • Not reported for 2024: visits. Harvard Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate is its own, so we leave it out and never rank it.
  • Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.

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 Harvard Township

Does Harvard Township have a public library?

Yes. Harvard Public Library, 309 North Clay Avenue, serves 945 people in and around Harvard Township (the survey’s count).

How busy is Harvard Township’s library?

It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.

What is Harvard Township’s civic life grade?

A Harvard Township is ahead of 90% 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 Harvard Township.

Town Square →
Start a conversation

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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.