Scribner Town Hall · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Scribner’s library lends 8.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Scribner Public Library serves Scribner’s 810 residents. Last year it lent 8,982 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,400 visits.
The short version on Scribner’s library
More library cards than residents
2,120 cards for 810 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Scribner Public Library serves 810 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 39 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 60 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 36 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. 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 Scribner’s civic life grade
Scribner 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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Scribner Public Library serves 810 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
8,982 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
2,394 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
60 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 Scribner last year.
Find it
Scribner Public Library, 530 Main Street, Scribner.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Scribner? 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 $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Scribner cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $71K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $141K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $71K 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 2,120 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scribner | Scribner Public Library fine-free | 11.1 | 39 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Pebble Township | Snyder Public Library fine-free | 1.0 | 16 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cuming 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Scribner Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Scribner
Does Scribner have a public library?
Yes. Scribner Public Library, 530 Main Street, serves Scribner’s 810 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Scribner 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 Scribner’s library?
It logged 5.4 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 Scribner’s civic life grade?
Scribner 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 Scribner.
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.