Pratt & Cjolme Building · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Platte’s library lends 6.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Platte Public Library serves Platte’s 1,242 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,141 visits.
The short version on Platte’s library
A small-town library
Platte Public Library serves 1,242 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 27 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 ↓
Nearly everyone in Platte has a card
1,185 cards for 1,242 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 75%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Platte Public Library spends $20 per resident, less than 91% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. 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 Platte’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Platte is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Platte’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Platte
8.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Platte’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical South Dakota 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 Platte’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
3,460 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Platte Public Library serves 1,242 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
33 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 Platte last year.
Find it
Platte Public Library, 310 South Main, Platte.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Platte? 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 $7.96 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Platte cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $25K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $202K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $25K 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 1,185 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 Platte
Does Platte have a public library?
Yes. Platte Public Library, 310 South Main, serves Platte’s 1,242 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 27 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Platte Public 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 Platte’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Platte’s civic life grade?
B Platte is ahead of 64% 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 Platte.
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.