Barneveld’s library logs 35 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Barneveld Free Library Association serves Barneveld’s 272 residents. Last year it lent 4,382 books, movies and e-books and logged 9,430 visits.
The short version on Barneveld’s library
More library cards than residents
968 cards for 272 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 ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
64% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 35%. What your card is worth ↓
Barneveld uses its library more than almost any town its size
Barneveld Free Library Association logs 35 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 10 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 5.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. It’s 36% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Barneveld Free Library Association serves 272 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
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 Barneveld’s civic life grade
Barneveld 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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Barneveld Free Library Association serves 272 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,382 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,772 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
1,572 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
43 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.
Find it
Barneveld Free Library Association, 118 Boon Street, Barneveld.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Barneveld? 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 $1.80 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Barneveld cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $39K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $71K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $39K 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 968 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Barneveld’s 9,430 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Barneveld Free Library Association 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 Barneveld
Does Barneveld have a public library?
Yes. Barneveld Free Library Association, 118 Boon Street, serves Barneveld’s 272 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 22 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Barneveld Free Library Association 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 Barneveld’s library?
It logged 34.7 visits and lent 16.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Barneveld’s civic life grade?
Barneveld 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 Barneveld.
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.