Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad Depot · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainPlainview’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Plainview Public Library serves Plainview’s 1,264 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 9,468 visits.
The short version on Plainview’s library
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 62% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 33 items per child in Plainview last year. Kids & programs ↓
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Plainview Public Library ran 305 programs last year, about 6 a week. That’s 241 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 3,482 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Plainview Public Library serves 1,264 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 51 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 ↓
Plainview is a town of borrowers
Plainview Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Plainview’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Plainview is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Plainview’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Plainview
12.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Plainview’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 Plainview’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Plainview last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Plainview Public Library serves 1,264 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
2,054 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Plainview Public Library, 209 N. Pine St., Plainview.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Plainview? 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 $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Plainview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $108K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $284K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $108K 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 941 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Plainview
Does Plainview have a public library?
Yes. Plainview Public Library, 209 N. Pine St., serves Plainview’s 1,264 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plainview 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 Plainview’s library?
It logged 7.5 visits and lent 14.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Plainview’s civic life grade?
A Plainview is ahead of 90% 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 Plainview.
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.