Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainRed Cloud’s library runs 109 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Auld Public Library serves Red Cloud’s 946 residents. Last year it lent 4,939 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,276 visits.
Red Cloud’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Auld Public Library serves 946 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 34 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 ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Auld Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993. Today’s library there has 5,108 square feet. The building ↓
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 Red Cloud’s civic life grade
Red Cloud isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
A National Register landmark since 1993
Auld Public Library, 537 North Webster, Red Cloud.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Red Cloud? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Auld Public Library
Auld Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 10, 1993. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Auld Public Library is a historic building in Red Cloud, Nebraska. It was built in 1917 thanks to a donation from William T. Auld, with William N. Gedney as the general contractor. It was designed in the Classical Revival style by Fiske & Meginnis, an architectural firm based out of Lincoln, Nebraska. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since December 10, 1993.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Auld Public Library serves 946 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,939 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
1,178 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
103 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Red Cloud last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red Cloud cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $78K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $88K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $78K 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 622 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 Red Cloud
Does Red Cloud have a public library?
Yes. Auld Public Library, 537 North Webster, serves Red Cloud’s 946 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Auld 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 Red Cloud’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 5.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Red Cloud’s civic life grade?
Red Cloud isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Red Cloud.
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.