Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainRavenna’s library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Ravenna Public Library serves Ravenna’s 1,382 residents. Last year it lent 15K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
Ravenna’s library, in brief
Five times the programs of a typical library its size
Ravenna Public Library ran 419 programs last year, about 8 a week. That’s 303 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 7,496 attended. Kids & programs ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 57% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Ravenna last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Ravenna Public Library serves 1,382 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 48 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 ↓
People come to Ravenna Public Library a lot
Ravenna Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 8.3 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Ravenna invests in its library
Ravenna Public Library spends $118 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (90%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Ravenna’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ravenna is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Ravenna
7.2 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.
5.3%
5.3% of Ravenna’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 Ravenna’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 Ravenna 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.
Ravenna Public Library serves 1,382 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
15K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
3,828 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ravenna Public Library, 324 Milan Avenue, Ravenna.
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 Ravenna? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ravenna cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $163K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $295K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $163K 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 931 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 Ravenna
Does Ravenna have a public library?
Yes. Ravenna Public Library, 324 Milan Avenue, serves Ravenna’s 1,382 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ravenna 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 Ravenna’s library?
It logged 13.0 visits and lent 11.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ravenna’s civic life grade?
A− Ravenna is ahead of 77% 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 Ravenna.
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.