Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0St. Paul’s library is a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which lends less per resident than 71% of systems its size
St. Paul’s library is the St. Paul Public Library, a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which serves 45,292 people and lent 96K items last year.
What stands out about St. Paul Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind St. Paul’s civic life grade
St. Paul 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 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Carroll and Madison Library System serves 45,292 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carroll and Madison Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
96K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
St. Paul Public Library, 145 Fifth Street, St. Paul.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carroll and Madison Library System branch.
New in St. Paul? 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 $1.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Paul cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M budget.
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 15,164 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. St. Paul Public Library is one branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 45,292 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 St. Paul
Does St. Paul have a public library?
Yes: St. Paul Public Library, 145 Fifth Street, is a branch of Carroll and Madison Library System, which serves 45,292 people. The branch is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is St. Paul’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 2.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is St. Paul’s civic life grade?
St. Paul 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 St. Paul.
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.