Photo: Hanyou23 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lincoln’s library lends 6.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Lincoln City Libraries serves 326,716 people in and around Lincoln from 8 locations. Last year it lent 3M books, movies and e-books and logged 822K visits.
Lincoln’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 60% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 3,587 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 38 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Eight branches in Lincoln
Lincoln has eight branches of the Lincoln City Libraries, which serves 326,716 people in and around Lincoln. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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; Lincoln City Libraries serves 326,716 people in and around Lincoln, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lincoln’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lincoln is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #39 of 55 in Nebraska. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #80. Lincoln’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
1,319 community nonprofits are registered in Lincoln
4.5 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 (226 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 49 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.4%
8.4% of Lincoln’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 Lincoln’s residents live; 2022.
About 46 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lincoln City Libraries serves 326,716 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 120 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lincoln City Libraries system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
939,176 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 places to borrow in Lincoln
Bennett Martin Public Library, 136 South 14th Street, Lincoln.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lincoln City Libraries branch.
New in Lincoln? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Lincoln City Libraries branches in Lincoln
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lincoln cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $12M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $48M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12M 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 220,231 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln | Bennett Martin Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | B− |
| Yankee Hill | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Walton | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cheney | None 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).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lincoln City Libraries serves 326,716 people in and around Lincoln, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lincoln.
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 Lincoln
Does Lincoln have a public library?
Yes. Lincoln City Libraries, 136 South 14th Street, serves 326,716 people in and around Lincoln (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lincoln City Libraries 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 Lincoln’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Lincoln’s civic life grade?
B− Lincoln is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Lincoln.
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.