Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainShelton’s library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Shelton Public Library serves Shelton’s 1,045 residents. Last year it lent 567 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,950 visits.
What Shelton’s library is like
A small-town library
Shelton Public Library serves 1,045 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 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
Shelton Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2024. Today’s library there has 3,000 square feet. The building ↓
People visit, but borrow less than most
Shelton Public Library lends 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, fewer than 96% of similar-size libraries, though visits are closer to typical. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 62% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 84% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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 Shelton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Shelton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Shelton is graded on two of the three inputs. Shelton’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Shelton
5.8 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.9%
5.9% of Shelton’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 Shelton’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2024
Shelton Public Library, 313 C Street, Shelton.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Shelton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Shelton Public Library
Shelton Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 31, 2024. It is significant for its education at the local level. It was listed as part of Carnegie Libraries in Nebraska MPS.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Shelton Public Library serves 1,045 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Shelton Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
567 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
41 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 Shelton last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Shelton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 643 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 Shelton
Does Shelton have a public library?
Yes. Shelton Public Library, 313 C Street, serves Shelton’s 1,045 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shelton Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Shelton’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Shelton’s civic life grade?
B− Shelton is ahead of 52% 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 Shelton.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.