Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Detroit Lakes’ library is a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library, which lends more per resident than 53% of systems its size
Detroit Lakes’s library is the Detroit Lakes Library, a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library, which serves 149,603 people and lent 746K items last year.
What stands out about Detroit Lakes Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Detroit Lakes’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Detroit Lakes is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #49 of 271 in Minnesota. Detroit Lakes is graded on two of the three inputs. Detroit Lakes’ 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 →
105 community nonprofits are registered in Detroit Lakes
10.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Detroit Lakes’ 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 Detroit Lakes’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Lake Agassiz Regional Library serves 149,603 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lake Agassiz Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
746K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
245,912 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 21 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
Detroit Lakes Library, 1000 Washington Ave, Detroit Lakes.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lake Agassiz Regional Library branch.
New in Detroit Lakes? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Detroit Lakes cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $12M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.5M 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 54,536 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lakes | Detroit Lakes Library | — | 53 | A− |
| Detroit Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Lake View Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Burlington Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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. Detroit Lakes Library is one branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 149,603 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 Detroit Lakes
Does Detroit Lakes have a public library?
Yes: Detroit Lakes Library, 1000 Washington Ave, is a branch of Lake Agassiz Regional Library, which serves 149,603 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake Agassiz Regional 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 Detroit Lakes’ library?
It logged 2.7 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Detroit Lakes’ civic life grade?
A− Detroit Lakes is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #49 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 Detroit Lakes.
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.