Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Dunlap’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Dunlap Public Library serves Dunlap’s 1,038 residents. Last year it lent 5,133 print books and media and logged 4,501 visits.
The short version on Dunlap’s library
A small-town library
Dunlap Public Library serves 1,038 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 33 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 ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Dunlap Public Library holds 28,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once last year. 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 Dunlap’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Dunlap is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Dunlap’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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Dunlap
12.8 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
2.8%
2.8% of Dunlap’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 Dunlap’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Dunlap Public Library serves 1,038 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
5,133 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
12 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 Dunlap last year.
Find it
Dunlap Public Library, 102 S 10th St., Dunlap.
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 Dunlap cardholder borrows.
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 571 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: spending. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Dunlap Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Dunlap
Does Dunlap have a public library?
Yes. Dunlap Public Library, 102 S 10th St., serves Dunlap’s 1,038 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Dunlap Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Dunlap’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 4.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Dunlap’s civic life grade?
B Dunlap is ahead of 58% 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 Dunlap.
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.