Buffalo’s library is a branch of Great River Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 65% of systems its size
Buffalo’s library is the Buffalo Public Library, a branch of Great River Regional Library, which serves 515,855 people and lent 2.8M items last year.
What stands out about Buffalo Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Buffalo’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Buffalo is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #26 of 271 in Minnesota. Buffalo is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Buffalo’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 →
103 community nonprofits are registered in Buffalo
6.2 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 (17 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Buffalo’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 Buffalo’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Great River Regional Library serves 515,855 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 53 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Great River Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
478,063 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 32 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Buffalo Public Library, 18 NW Lake Blvd, Buffalo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Great River Regional Library branch.
New in Buffalo? 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 $4.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Buffalo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $42M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.8M 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 101,699 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | Buffalo Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | A |
| Buffalo Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Chatham Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Rockford Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Maple Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
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. Buffalo Public Library is one branch of Great River Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 515,855 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 Buffalo
Does Buffalo have a public library?
Yes: Buffalo Public Library, 18 NW Lake Blvd, is a branch of Great River Regional Library, which serves 515,855 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Great River 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 Buffalo’s library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 5.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Buffalo’s civic life grade?
A Buffalo is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on civic life, #26 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 Buffalo.
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.