Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Cottonwood’s library is a branch of Marshall-Lyon County Library, which lends more per resident than 75% of systems its size
Cottonwood’s library is the Cottonwood Community Library, a branch of Marshall-Lyon County Library, which serves 22,006 people and lent 154K items last year.
Cottonwood’s library, in brief
Open only about 19 hours a week
The Cottonwood branch keeps short hours: about 19 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 7% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 74% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Cottonwood’s library is a branch of Marshall-Lyon County Library, so they cover the whole system (22,006 people), not just the Cottonwood branch.
What’s behind Cottonwood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Cottonwood is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Cottonwood is graded on two of the three inputs. Cottonwood’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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Cottonwood
7.5 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Cottonwood’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 Cottonwood’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Marshall-Lyon County Library serves 22,006 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marshall-Lyon County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
154K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,518 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Cottonwood Community Library, 86 West Main Street, Cottonwood.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Marshall-Lyon County Library branch.
New in Cottonwood? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Cottonwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 10,272 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Cottonwood Community Library is one branch of Marshall-Lyon County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 22,006 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 Cottonwood
Does Cottonwood have a public library?
Yes: Cottonwood Community Library, 86 West Main Street, is a branch of Marshall-Lyon County Library, which serves 22,006 people. The branch is open about 19 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshall-Lyon County 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 Cottonwood’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Cottonwood’s civic life grade?
B− Cottonwood is ahead of 51% 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 Cottonwood.
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.