Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Scottsbluff’s library logs 5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lied Scottsbluff Public Library serves Scottsbluff’s 14,305 residents. Last year it lent 119K books, movies and e-books and logged 72K visits.
The short version on Scottsbluff’s library
More library cards than residents
33,091 cards for 14,305 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Scottsbluff Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Today’s library there has 22,800 square feet. The building ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 77% 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.
What’s behind Scottsbluff’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Scottsbluff is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #8 of 55 in Nebraska. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Scottsbluff’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 →
107 community nonprofits are registered in Scottsbluff
7.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (33 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.8%
10.8% of Scottsbluff’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 Scottsbluff’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Lied Scottsbluff Public Library serves 14,305 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 41 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
119K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 53K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 time last year, on average.
41,081 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Scottsbluff last year.
A National Register landmark since 1981
Lied Scottsbluff Public Library, 1809 3rd Avenue, Scottsbluff.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Scottsbluff? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Scottsbluff Carnegie Library
Scottsbluff Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 3, 1981. It is significant for its exploration/settlement, architecture and social history at the state level.
Lied Scottsbluff Public Library is the public library of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, United States. It was formed in 1917 and moved into its first permanent building in 1922, a Carnegie library. The current library opened in 1966.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Scottsbluff cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $805K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $805K 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 33,091 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.
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 Scottsbluff
Does Scottsbluff have a public library?
Yes. Lied Scottsbluff Public Library, 1809 3rd Avenue, serves Scottsbluff’s 14,305 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lied Scottsbluff 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 Scottsbluff’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Scottsbluff’s civic life grade?
A Scottsbluff is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 of 55 in Nebraska. 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 Scottsbluff.
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.