Gerome Clark House · Photo: Dan Breyfogle · CC BY-SA 3.0Arnolds Park’s library lends 9.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Arnolds Park Public Library serves Arnolds Park’s 2,281 residents. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Arnolds Park’s library
More library cards than residents
3,597 cards for 2,281 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Arnolds Park Public Library serves 2,281 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 40 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 ↓
Programs draw a crowd
9,973 people came to the library’s 190 programs last year: 4.4 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 96% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 190 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 82 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Arnolds Park’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Arnolds Park is ahead of 53% of U.S. towns. Arnolds Park is graded on two of the three inputs. Arnolds Park’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 Arnolds Park
10.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
4.2%
4.2% of Arnolds Park’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa 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 Arnolds Park’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Arnolds Park Public Library serves 2,281 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
Find it
Arnolds Park Public Library, 156 N Hwy 71, Arnolds Park.
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 $1.82 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arnolds Park cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $236K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $430K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $236K 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 3,597 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnolds Park | Arnolds Park Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 40 | B− |
| Milford | Milford Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 43 | A |
| West Okoboji | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
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.
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 Arnolds Park
Does Arnolds Park have a public library?
Yes. Arnolds Park Public Library, 156 N Hwy 71, serves Arnolds Park’s 2,281 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arnolds Park Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Arnolds Park’s library?
It logged 6.8 visits and lent 9.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Arnolds Park’s civic life grade?
B− Arnolds Park is ahead of 53% 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 Arnolds Park.
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.