Pawnee Agency and Boarding School Historic District · Photo: Steven C. Price · CC BY-SA 3.0Pawnee’s library lends 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Pawnee Public Library serves Pawnee’s 1,944 residents. Last year it lent 4,213 books, movies and e-books and drew 583 people to its programs.
The short version on Pawnee’s library
More library cards than residents
5,920 cards for 1,944 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 ↓
A small-town library
Pawnee Public Library serves 1,944 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 39 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 ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
27% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 69%. What your card is worth ↓
44% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 44% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Pawnee Public Library holds 30,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Pawnee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Pawnee is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Pawnee
11.7 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
16.8%
16.8% of Pawnee’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.7% in the typical Oklahoma 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 Pawnee’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Pawnee Public Library serves 1,944 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Visits aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 455 visits against 4,213 loans, so we leave the count out.
44% of borrowing is digital
4,213 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
1,837 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
8 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 Pawnee last year.
Find it
Pawnee Public Library, 653 Illinois, Pawnee.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pawnee? The Handbook →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 Pawnee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $96K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $72K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $96K 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 5,920 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits left out. This year’s visit count is far below what the library lends, so we leave it out.
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 Pawnee
Does Pawnee have a public library?
Yes. Pawnee Public Library, 653 Illinois, serves Pawnee’s 1,944 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pawnee 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 Pawnee’s library?
It lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024 (print and digital) and ran 8 programs that drew 583 people. Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Pawnee’s civic life grade?
B+ Pawnee is ahead of 73% 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 Pawnee.
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.