Photo: Cacophony · CC BY-SA 3.0Burns’ library logs 4.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Harney County Library serves 7,600 people in and around Burns. Last year it lent 31K print books and media and logged 34K visits.
What stands out about Harney County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Burns’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Burns is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #11 of 106 in Oregon. Burns is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Burns’ 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Burns
13.6 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Burns’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon 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 Burns’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Harney County Library serves 7,600 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Harney County Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
31K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
About 3 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.
Find it
Harney County Library, 80 West D St., Burns.
No late fees. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Harney County Library branch.
New in Burns? 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 $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Burns cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $388K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $525K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $388K 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 2,221 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Harney County Library serves 7,600 people in and around Burns, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Burns.
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 Burns
Does Burns have a public library?
Yes. Harney County Library, 80 West D St., serves 7,600 people in and around Burns (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Harney County Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Burns’ library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 4.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Burns’ civic life grade?
A+ Burns is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #11 of 106 in Oregon. 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 Burns.
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.