F. M. Walcott House · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Valentine’s library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Valentine Public Library serves 5,492 people in and around Valentine. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
The short version on Valentine’s library
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
60% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 40%. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 81% 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; Valentine Public Library serves 5,492 people in and around Valentine, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Valentine’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Valentine is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #1 of 55 in Nebraska. Valentine is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Valentine’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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Valentine
12.2 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Valentine’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 Valentine’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Valentine Public Library serves 5,492 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Valentine Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,307 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Valentine Public Library, 324 North Main Street, Valentine.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Valentine Public Library branch.
New in Valentine? 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 $2.10 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Valentine cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $341K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $716K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $341K 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 2,249 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Valentine Public Library serves 5,492 people in and around Valentine, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Valentine.
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 Valentine
Does Valentine have a public library?
Yes. Valentine Public Library, 324 North Main Street, serves 5,492 people in and around Valentine (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Valentine 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 Valentine’s library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Valentine’s civic life grade?
A+ Valentine is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Valentine.
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.