Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Hermosa’s library is a branch of Custer County Library, which lends more per resident than 71% of systems its size
Hermosa’s library is the Custer County Hermosa Branch Library, a branch of Custer County Library, which serves 9,117 people and lent 69K items last year.
What stands out about Custer County Hermosa Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hermosa’s civic life grade
Hermosa 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Custer County Library serves 9,117 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 27 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Custer County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,127 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Custer County Hermosa Branch Library, 234 Main Street, Hermosa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Custer County Library branch.
New in Hermosa? 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 $3.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hermosa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $314K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $314K 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 5,231 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Custer County Hermosa Branch Library is one branch of Custer County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 9,117 people it serves.
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 Hermosa
Does Hermosa have a public library?
Yes: Custer County Hermosa Branch Library, 234 Main Street, is a branch of Custer County Library, which serves 9,117 people. The branch is open about 17 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Custer County Library 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 Hermosa’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 7.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Hermosa’s civic life grade?
Hermosa 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 Hermosa.
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.