Cannon Falls School · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Cannon Falls’ library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Cannon Falls Library serves 12,562 people in and around Cannon Falls. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 37K visits.
What stands out about Cannon Falls Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Cannon Falls’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cannon Falls is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #20 of 271 in Minnesota. Cannon Falls is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Cannon Falls’ 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Cannon Falls
9.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Cannon Falls’ 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 Cannon Falls’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Cannon Falls Library serves 12,562 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Cannon Falls Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,311 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Cannon Falls Library, 306 W. Mill St., Cannon Falls.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Cannon Falls Library branch.
New in Cannon Falls? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cannon Falls cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $508K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $886K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $508K 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 3,134 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannon Falls | Cannon Falls Library fine-free | — | 37 | A |
| Cannon Falls Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Stanton Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Randolph Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Douglas Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hampton 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.
- System-wide. Cannon Falls Library serves 12,562 people in and around Cannon Falls, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Cannon Falls.
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 Cannon Falls
Does Cannon Falls have a public library?
Yes. Cannon Falls Library, 306 W. Mill St., serves 12,562 people in and around Cannon Falls (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cannon Falls 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 Cannon Falls’ library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 4.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cannon Falls’ civic life grade?
A Cannon Falls is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 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 Cannon Falls.
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.