Eagle Grove Public Library · Photo: Ann Sullivan-Larson · CC BY-SA 3.0Eagle Grove’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Eagle Grove Memorial Library serves Eagle Grove’s 5,065 residents. Last year it lent 8,462 print books and media and logged 14K visits.
What Eagle Grove’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Eagle Grove Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. Today’s library there has 5,411 square feet. The building ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Eagle Grove Memorial Library holds 36,000 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.
What’s behind Eagle Grove’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eagle Grove is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #88 of 138 in Iowa. Eagle Grove is graded on two of the three inputs. Eagle Grove’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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Eagle Grove
7.2 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.5%
6.5% of Eagle Grove’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 Eagle Grove’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1977
Eagle Grove Memorial Library, 101 S Cadwell, Eagle Grove.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Eagle Grove Public Library
Eagle Grove Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 22, 1977. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts.
The Eagle Grove Public Library, now the Eagle Grove Historical Museum, is a historical building in Eagle Grove, Iowa, United States. A subscription library was begun in Eagle Grove around 1885, and housed in the post office. The impetus for the first free public library was a 1901 advertising campaign by a Des Moines insurance and investment company. When local citizens bought company's bonds, the company
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Eagle Grove Memorial Library serves 5,065 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
8,462 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 36K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
60 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Eagle Grove last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.02 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eagle Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $200K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $203K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $200K 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 3,496 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.
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 Eagle Grove
Does Eagle Grove have a public library?
Yes. Eagle Grove Memorial Library, 101 S Cadwell, serves Eagle Grove’s 5,065 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eagle Grove Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Eagle Grove’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 1.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Eagle Grove’s civic life grade?
B+ Eagle Grove is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #88 of 138 in Iowa. 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 Eagle Grove.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.