Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainTecumseh’s library runs 15 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Tecumseh Public Library serves Tecumseh’s 1,670 residents. Last year it lent 5,826 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,600 visits.
Tecumseh’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Tecumseh Public Library serves 1,670 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 ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people Tecumseh Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
46% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 46% of loans, more per resident than at 66% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 54%, much of it kids’ books. 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 Tecumseh’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tecumseh is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns. Tecumseh’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
27 community nonprofits are registered in Tecumseh
14.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Tecumseh’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 Tecumseh’s residents live; 2022.
46% of borrowing is digital
5,826 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.
2,683 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Tecumseh Public Library serves 1,670 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.
25 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 Tecumseh last year.
Find it
Tecumseh Public Library, 170 Branch Street, Tecumseh.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tecumseh? 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 $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tecumseh cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $93K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 251 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Tecumseh 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 Tecumseh
Does Tecumseh have a public library?
Yes. Tecumseh Public Library, 170 Branch Street, serves Tecumseh’s 1,670 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tecumseh 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 Tecumseh’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Tecumseh’s civic life grade?
B+ Tecumseh is ahead of 67% 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 Tecumseh.
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.