Cuba’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Cuba Public Library serves Cuba’s 628 residents. Last year it lent 870 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,658 visits.
Cuba’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,805 cards for 628 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 ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 73% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 15%. The building also logs about 1 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Cuba Public Library offered 0 programs last year, 0 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Cuba Public Library serves 628 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 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 ↓
Cuba invests in its library
Cuba Public Library spends $177 per resident a year, about three times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) 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 Cuba’s civic life grade
Cuba 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Cuba Public Library serves 628 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Cuba Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
870 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 23K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0 time last year, on average.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Cuba last year.
Find it
Cuba Public Library, 13 East Cordova Ave., Cuba.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cuba cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $111K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $111K 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 2,805 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 Cuba
Does Cuba have a public library?
Yes. Cuba Public Library, 13 East Cordova Ave., serves Cuba’s 628 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cuba Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Cuba’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Cuba’s civic life grade?
Cuba 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 Cuba.
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.