Photo: Jon Platek · CC BY-SA 3.0Faribault’s library lends 2.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library serves 34,000 people in and around Faribault. Last year it lent 104K books, movies and e-books and logged 95K visits.
What stands out about Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Faribault’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Faribault is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #178 of 271 in Minnesota. Faribault is graded on two of the three inputs. Faribault’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Faribault
4.3 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 (22 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Faribault’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 Faribault’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1982
Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library, 11 Division Street East, Faribault.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library branch.
New in Faribault? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Buckham, Thomas Scott, Memorial Library
Buckham, Thomas Scott, Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 6, 1982. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. It was listed as part of Rice County MRA.
The Thomas Scott Buckham Memorial Library is a historic library in Faribault, Minnesota, United States.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library serves 34,000 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
104K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,476 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, 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.33 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Faribault cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M 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 12,653 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faribault | Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library fine-free | — | 58 | C+ |
| Wells Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Walcott Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Cannon City Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Warsaw Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library serves 34,000 people in and around Faribault, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Faribault.
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 Faribault
Does Faribault have a public library?
Yes. Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library, 11 Division Street East, serves 34,000 people in and around Faribault (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Faribault: Buckham Memorial 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 Faribault’s library?
It logged 2.8 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Faribault’s civic life grade?
C+ Faribault is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #178 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 Faribault.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.