Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMcCook’s library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Mccook Public Library serves McCook’s 7,253 residents. Last year it lent 96K books, movies and e-books and logged 43K visits.
McCook’s library, in brief
Programs are almost all for children
92% of the 208 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in McCook last year. Kids & programs ↓
McCook is a town of borrowers
Mccook Public Library lends 11 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 3.3 times last year. 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 McCook’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, McCook is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #23 of 55 in Nebraska. McCook’s 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 →
76 community nonprofits are registered in McCook
10.4 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 (18 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of McCook’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 McCook’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 McCook last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mccook Public Library serves 7,253 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 37 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
96K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.3 times last year, on average.
13,423 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mccook Public Library, 802 Norris Avenue, Mccook.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in McCook? 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 $3.79 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average McCook cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $382K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $382K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 3,589 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. Mccook Public 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 McCook
Does McCook have a public library?
Yes. Mccook Public Library, 802 Norris Avenue, serves McCook’s 7,253 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mccook Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is McCook’s library?
It logged 5.9 visits and lent 13.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is McCook’s civic life grade?
A− McCook is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #23 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 McCook.
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.