Antlers Hotel · Photo: TheCatalyst31 · CC0Spirit Lake’s library logs 3.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Spirit Lake Public Library serves Spirit Lake’s 10,730 residents. Last year it lent 49K print books and media and logged 41K visits.
What stands out about Spirit Lake’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Spirit Lake’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Spirit Lake is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #58 of 138 in Iowa. Spirit Lake is graded on two of the three inputs. Spirit Lake’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 →
61 community nonprofits are registered in Spirit Lake
11.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Spirit Lake’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 Spirit Lake’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Spirit Lake Public Library serves 10,730 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
49K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 31K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
About 3 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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Spirit Lake last year.
Find it
Spirit Lake Public Library, 702 16th St., Spirit Lake.
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 $2.09 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Spirit Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $389K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $815K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $389K 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 3,152 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.
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 Spirit Lake
Does Spirit Lake have a public library?
Yes. Spirit Lake Public Library, 702 16th St., serves Spirit Lake’s 10,730 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Spirit Lake Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Spirit Lake’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 4.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Spirit Lake’s civic life grade?
A− Spirit Lake is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #58 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 Spirit Lake.
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.