Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainHebron’s library logs 4.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Hebron Secrest Library serves Hebron’s 1,388 residents. Last year it lent 7,852 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,550 visits.
What stands out about Hebron’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hebron’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Hebron is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Hebron
10.8 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.8%
16.8% of Hebron’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 Hebron’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hebron Secrest Library serves 1,388 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
7,852 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,821 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
41 programs a year
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 Hebron last year.
Find it
Hebron Secrest Library, 146 North 4th Street, Hebron.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Hebron? 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 $1.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hebron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $115K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $120K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $115K 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 835 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Hebron Secrest Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Hebron
Does Hebron have a public library?
Yes. Hebron Secrest Library, 146 North 4th Street, serves Hebron’s 1,388 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hebron Secrest 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 Hebron’s library?
It logged 4.7 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Hebron’s civic life grade?
A+ Hebron is ahead of 96% 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 Hebron.
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.