Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Columbia Heights’ library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Columbia Heights Public Library serves Columbia Heights’s 21,567 residents. Last year it lent 177K books, movies and e-books and logged 91K visits.
Columbia Heights’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone in Columbia Heights has a card
18,730 cards for 21,567 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 312 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 108 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Columbia Heights’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Columbia Heights is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #175 of 271 in Minnesota. Library visits hold the grade up; Columbia Heights’ count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
54 community nonprofits are registered in Columbia Heights
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (18 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Columbia Heights’ 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 Columbia Heights’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Columbia Heights Public Library serves 21,567 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 73 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
177K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 47K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
43,685 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Columbia Heights last year.
Find it
Columbia Heights Public Library, 3939 Central Avenue NE, Columbia Heights.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Columbia Heights? 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 $2.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Columbia Heights cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 18,730 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Heights | Columbia Heights Public Library fine-free | 8.2 | 47 | C+ |
| Fridley | Fridley: Mississippi Branch Library | — | 44 | C |
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 Columbia Heights
Does Columbia Heights have a public library?
Yes. Columbia Heights Public Library, 3939 Central Avenue NE, serves Columbia Heights’ 21,567 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Columbia Heights Public 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 Columbia Heights’ library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 8.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Columbia Heights’ civic life grade?
C+ Columbia Heights is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #175 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 Columbia Heights.
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.