Photo: Owen · Public domainHalsey’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Halsey City Library serves Halsey’s 952 residents. Last year it logged 1,320 visits.
What Halsey’s library is like
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
61% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 17%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Halsey City Library serves 952 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Halsey City Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
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 Halsey’s civic life grade
Halsey 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 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Halsey City Library serves 952 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Halsey City Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
16 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
Halsey City Library, 773 W 1st St., Halsey.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Halsey? 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 Halsey cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $46K.
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 619 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 Halsey
Does Halsey have a public library?
Yes. Halsey City Library, 773 W 1st St., serves Halsey’s 952 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Halsey City Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Halsey’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Halsey’s civic life grade?
Halsey 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 Halsey.
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.