Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Nebraska City

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Arbor LodgePhoto: Workman at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5
Morton-James Public Library

Nebraska City’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size

Morton-James Public Library serves Nebraska City’s 7,414 residents. Last year it lent 64K books, movies and e-books and logged 31K visits.

923 First Corso, Nebraska City 68410 · about 48 hours a week
B−Civic lifeAhead of 53% of U.S. towns · #40 of 55 in Nebraska State. Library visits, nonprofits and volunteering.
Directions (402) 873-5609 What’s a card worth?
Borrowed a year
64K
8.6 per resident
Visits a year
31K
4.2 per resident · Above typical (3)
Programs & events
223
about 4 a week · 4,518 attended
Cardholders
33%
2,478 cards
Open
48 hrs
a week

What stands out about Nebraska City’s library

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

A kid magnetA historic buildingA Wi-Fi hubFine-free
Civic life grade

What’s behind Nebraska City’s civic life grade

On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Nebraska City is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns, #40 of 55 in Nebraska State. Nebraska City’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.

B−
Civic lifeA character grade: shown, never part of Nebraska City’s overall grade.
BLibrary visits4.2 visits per resident · NE towns 4.9 · U.S. 3.4A−Community nonprofits6.4 per 1,000 residents · NE towns 7.8 · U.S. 3.7DVolunteering4.6% of adults 25–44 · NE towns 7.9% · U.S. 7.5%
All U.S. towns we grade (17,556)Ahead of 53%
FewerMore
Nebraska State towns we grade (55)Ahead of 28%
U.S. towns with similar incomes, $50K–$84K (8,785)Ahead of 49%

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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. Nebraska City is small (7,512 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

47 community nonprofits are registered in Nebraska City

6.4 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 & culture70.91 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.24
Youth, sports & recreation70.91 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.52
Civic groups, clubs & veterans91.25 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.74
Human services81.02 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.59
Education50.68 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.43
Health10.11 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.16
Environment & animals40.57 per 1,000 · U.S. towns 0.17
Other70.91 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.

Volunteering

4.6%

4.6% of Nebraska City’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Nebraska State 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 Nebraska City’s residents live; 2022.

★ What stands out · Kids & programs

223 programs a year

Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.

Schools in Nebraska City →

Programs last year by age group

Ages 0–527
Ages 6–111
Teens2
Adults75
All ages118
Little ones
0.5

story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.

Kids’ books
13

children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Nebraska City last year.

4,518
people at programs
223
programs
How it compares

Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures

Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.

Visits per resident 4.2 visits · typical 3Higher than 67%
Borrowing per resident 6.6 print items · typical 3.8Higher than 78%
Digital borrowing 2 e-items · typical 1Higher than 77%
Kids’ borrowing 3.3 kids’ items · typical 1.6Higher than 80%
Program attendance 0.6 attendees · typical 0.5Higher than 58%
Programs offered 30.1 per 1,000 residents · typical 34Lower than 56%
Cardholders 33% of residents · typical 42%Lower than 64%
Spending $75 per resident · typical $43Higher than 81%
Fewer per residentMore per resident
Ranked in NE#28Most-used librariesof 41 towns
#23Most library borrowingof 41 towns
#25Best libraries for kidsof 41 towns
Size group

Morton-James Public Library serves 7,414 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.

A year at the library

Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out

Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.

31K
visits
4.2 per resident
64K
loans, print + digital
8.6 per resident
223
programs & events
4,518 attended
2,478
library cards
33% of people served
Every open hour26items borrowed
Every week87people at a program
Every day46Wi-Fi sessions
7 staff (full-time equivalent)7 public computers37K books & media on the shelves
What people borrow

More than half the print loans are kids’ books

64K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.

64Kloans
Books & media (adults) 39%Kids’ books & media 38%E-books, audio & streaming 23%
How hard the shelves work
1.3×

Each of the 37K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.

From your couch

14,815 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.

The building

A National Register landmark since 1976

Morton-James Public Library, 923 First Corso, Nebraska City.

Directions(402) 873-5609
48
hours open a week
16,794
square feet
37K
books & media
With a card

No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.

New in Nebraska City? The Handbook →

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

Morton-James Public Library
The building’s story

Morton-James Public Library

Morton-James Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 28, 1976. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the state level. Its architecture is described as Richardsonian Romanesque.

The Morton-James Public Library is a library in the city of Nebraska City, in the southeastern part of the state of Nebraska, in the Midwestern United States. The building, located at 923 1st Corso, has been described as "a modest, yet fine example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture in Nebraska". In 1976, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

More about the building →
What your card is worth

For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.86 worth

Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Nebraska City cardholder borrows.

In a month I’d use…
Books$17 each
1
Kids’ books$12 each
1
E-books & audio$15 each
0
Movies & music$4 each
0
Programs & classes$10 a program
0
Computer & Wi-Fi$3 a session
1
Your card saves you about
$384
a year at retail prices · $32 a month

Who pays for it
$75 per resident a year

Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $554K.

Local taxes 77%State 0%Gifts & other 23%

Last year the library lent and hosted about $1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $554K 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 2,478 cardholders ÷ 12.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.

  • The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.

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 Nebraska City

Does Nebraska City have a public library?

Yes. Morton-James Public Library, 923 First Corso, serves Nebraska City’s 7,414 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.

Is Morton-James 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 Nebraska City’s library?

It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.

What is Nebraska City’s civic life grade?

B− Nebraska City is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 of 55 in Nebraska State. 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 Nebraska City.

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; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.