Photo: Lorie Shaull · CC BY 2.0Babbitt’s library logs 6.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Babbitt Public Library serves Babbitt’s 1,370 residents. Last year it lent 12K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,713 visits.
Babbitt’s library, in brief
Above typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Babbitt Public Library is above the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, with four in the top 30%. No single number stands out, and none lags far behind. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Babbitt Public Library serves 1,370 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 36 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 ↓
Babbitt invests in its library
Babbitt Public Library spends $126 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (97%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Babbitt’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Babbitt is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns. Babbitt’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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Babbitt
9.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
5.3%
5.3% of Babbitt’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 Babbitt’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Babbitt cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $172K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $195K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $172K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 867 cardholders ÷ 12.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Babbitt Public Library serves 1,370 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 7 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
12K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 15K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
2,568 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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 Babbitt last year.
Find it
Babbitt Public Library, 71 South Drive, Babbitt.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Babbitt? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babbitt | Babbitt Public Library | 8.9 | 36 | B+ |
| Hoyt Lakes | Hoyt Lakes Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 33 | B− |
| Bassett Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Stony River Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Waasa Township | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Babbitt
Does Babbitt have a public library?
Yes. Babbitt Public Library, 71 South Drive, serves Babbitt’s 1,370 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Babbitt Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Babbitt’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Babbitt’s civic life grade?
B+ Babbitt is ahead of 73% 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 Babbitt.
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.