Allemarinda and James Wyer House · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Excelsior’s library is a branch of Hennepin County Library, which lends more per resident than 92% of systems its size
Excelsior’s library is the Excelsior Library, a branch of Hennepin County Library, which serves 1,297,847 people and lent 18M items last year.
Excelsior’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Hennepin County Library system logs 3.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 8.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.9 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 35% of all loans. 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; Excelsior’s library is a branch of Hennepin County Library, so they cover the whole system (1,297,847 people), not just the Excelsior branch.
What’s behind Excelsior’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Excelsior is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns. Excelsior is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Excelsior’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 →
12 community nonprofits are registered in Excelsior
4.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Excelsior’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 Excelsior’s residents live; 2022.
About 104 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Hennepin County Library serves 1,297,847 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 177 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hennepin County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
18M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,304,516 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Excelsior Library, 337 Water Street, Excelsior.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hennepin County Library branch.
New in Excelsior? 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 $3.83 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Excelsior cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $75M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $287M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $75M 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 646,260 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.
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. Excelsior Library is one branch of Hennepin County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,297,847 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 Excelsior
Does Excelsior have a public library?
Yes: Excelsior Library, 337 Water Street, is a branch of Hennepin County Library, which serves 1,297,847 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hennepin County 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 Excelsior’s library?
It logged 3.7 visits and lent 13.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Excelsior’s civic life grade?
B Excelsior is ahead of 64% 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 Excelsior.
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.