Charles H. Morrill Homestead · Public domainStromsburg’s library lends 6.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Stromsburg Public Library serves Stromsburg’s 1,155 residents. Last year it lent 10K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,492 visits.
Stromsburg’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 74% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Stromsburg last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Stromsburg Public Library serves 1,155 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 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 ↓
Stromsburg invests in its library
Stromsburg Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) 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 Stromsburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Stromsburg is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Stromsburg
9.3 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 (6 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.
17.3%
17.3% of Stromsburg’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 Stromsburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Stromsburg last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Stromsburg Public Library serves 1,155 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
10K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
2,380 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Stromsburg Public Library, 320 Central Street, Stromsburg.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Stromsburg? 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 $1.17 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stromsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $129K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $151K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $129K 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 570 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 Stromsburg
Does Stromsburg have a public library?
Yes. Stromsburg Public Library, 320 Central Street, serves Stromsburg’s 1,155 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Stromsburg 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 Stromsburg’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Stromsburg’s civic life grade?
A Stromsburg is ahead of 93% 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 Stromsburg.
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.