Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake City’s library runs 67 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Lake City Public Library serves Lake City’s 2,536 residents. Last year it lent 11K print books and media and logged 8,357 visits.
What Lake City’s library is like
The library is a National Register landmark
Lake City Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1990. Today’s library there has 8,103 square feet. The building ↓
Nearly everyone in Lake City has a card
2,167 cards for 2,536 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
58% of the 171 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 69 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Lake City Public Library holds 26,000 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 Lake City’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake City is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns. Lake City is graded on two of the three inputs. Lake City’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 →
16 community nonprofits are registered in Lake City
9.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Lake City’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 Lake City’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Lake City Public Library serves 2,536 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
11K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lake City last year.
A National Register landmark since 1990
Lake City Public Library, 110 E Washington St., Lake City.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lake City Public Library
Lake City Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 27, 1990. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival. It was listed as part of Lake City Iowa MPS.
The former Lake City Public Library is a historic structure located in Lake City, Iowa, United States. Efforts to establish a library began as early as 1889 when community socials were held to raise money for books. Women in the community, however, would not form a community library association until 1905.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $120K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $191K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $120K 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 2,167 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 Lake City
Does Lake City have a public library?
Yes. Lake City Public Library, 110 E Washington St., serves Lake City’s 2,536 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake City Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Lake City’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 4.2 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Lake City’s civic life grade?
B Lake City 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 Lake City.
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.