Photo: Tony Webster from San Francisco, California · CC BY-SA 2.0Duluth’s library lends 7.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Duluth Public Library serves Duluth’s 86,788 residents from 3 locations. Last year it lent 751K books, movies and e-books and logged 329K visits.
What stands out about Duluth’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Duluth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Duluth is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns, #47 of 271 in Minnesota. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Duluth’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 →
519 community nonprofits are registered in Duluth
6.0 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 (95 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.9%
9.9% of Duluth’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 Duluth’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Duluth last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Duluth Public Library serves 86,788 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 119 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
751K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 326K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.9 times last year, on average.
126,068 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
3 places to borrow in Duluth
Duluth Public Library - Main, 520 W. Superior St., Duluth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Duluth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Duluth
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Duluth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $6.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $11M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6.3M 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 52,894 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duluth | Duluth Public Library - Main fine-free | 8.7 | 44 | A− |
| Superior | Superior Public Library fine-free | — | 48 | B− |
| Superior | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Hermantown | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Rice Lake | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Midway Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Proctor | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Lakewood Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Twin Lakes Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Canosia Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Oliver | 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.
- 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 Duluth
Does Duluth have a public library?
Yes. Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St., serves Duluth’s 86,788 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Duluth 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 Duluth’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Duluth’s civic life grade?
A− Duluth is ahead of 81% of U.S. towns on civic life, #47 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 Duluth.
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.