Hastings Municipal Airport Hangar-Building No. 1 · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainHastings’ library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Hastings Public Library serves 30,899 people in and around Hastings. Last year it lent 253K books, movies and e-books and logged 91K visits.
Hastings’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
27,351 cards for 30,899 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 83% of similar-size libraries. 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; Hastings Public Library serves 30,899 people in and around Hastings, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hastings’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hastings is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #42 of 55 in Nebraska. Hastings’ 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 →
139 community nonprofits are registered in Hastings
5.6 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 (29 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.
6.2%
6.2% of Hastings’ 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 Hastings’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Hastings Public Library serves 30,899 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 67 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hastings Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
253K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,986 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Hastings Public Library, 314 N Denver Av, Hastings.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hastings Public Library branch.
New in Hastings? 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 $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hastings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 27,351 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hastings Public Library serves 30,899 people in and around Hastings, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hastings.
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 Hastings
Does Hastings have a public library?
Yes. Hastings Public Library, 314 N Denver Av, serves 30,899 people in and around Hastings (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hastings 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 Hastings’ library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hastings’ civic life grade?
B− Hastings is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #42 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 Hastings.
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.