Omaha Township’s library logs 9.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Walthill Public Library serves 682 people in and around Omaha Township. Last year it lent 564 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,552 visits.
What Omaha Township’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 89% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 1%. A year at the library ↓
Most of Omaha Township’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 79% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Walthill Public Library serves 682 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Omaha Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Omaha Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns. Omaha Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Omaha Township’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Omaha Township
8.0 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.6%
3.6% of Omaha Township’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 Omaha Township’s residents live; 2022.
79% of borrowing is digital
564 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,096 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
446 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Walthill Public Library serves 682 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Walthill Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
46 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.
Find it
Walthill Public Library, 323 Main Street, Walthill.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Omaha Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Omaha Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $27K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $16K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27K 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 181 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha Township | Walthill Public Library fine-free | 0.8 | 25 | B− |
| Winnebago Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Blackbird Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Dawes Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bryan Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Merry Township | 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.
- 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 Omaha Township
Does Omaha Township have a public library?
Yes. Walthill Public Library, 323 Main Street, serves 682 people in and around Omaha Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Walthill 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 Omaha Township’s library?
It logged 9.6 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Omaha Township’s civic life grade?
B− Omaha Township is ahead of 46% 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 Omaha Township.
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.