Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Bemidji’s library is a branch of Kitchigami Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 64% of systems its size
Bemidji’s library is the Bemidji Public Library, a branch of Kitchigami Regional Library, which serves 180,765 people and lent 552K items last year.
What stands out about Bemidji Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bemidji’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bemidji is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #13 of 271 in Minnesota. Bemidji is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bemidji’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
120 community nonprofits are registered in Bemidji
7.7 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Bemidji’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 Bemidji’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Kitchigami Regional Library serves 180,765 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kitchigami Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
552K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Bemidji’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
102,556 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
754 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Bemidji Public Library, 509 America Avenue, Bemidji.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kitchigami Regional Library branch.
New in Bemidji? The Handbook →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 $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bemidji cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 86,563 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bemidji | Bemidji Public Library fine-free | — | 53 | A |
| Bemidji Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Northern Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Eckles Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Grant Valley Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Frohn Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Turtle River Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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.
- System-wide. Bemidji Public Library is one branch of Kitchigami Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 180,765 people it serves.
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 Bemidji
Does Bemidji have a public library?
Yes: Bemidji Public Library, 509 America Avenue, is a branch of Kitchigami Regional Library, which serves 180,765 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kitchigami Regional Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Bemidji’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Bemidji’s civic life grade?
A Bemidji is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 of 271 in Minnesota. 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 Bemidji.
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.