Photo: Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA · CC BY 2.0Hastings’ library is a branch of Dakota County Library, which lends more per resident than 94% of systems its size
Hastings’s library is the Hastings: Pleasant Hill Library, a branch of Dakota County Library, which serves 449,658 people and lent 5.8M items last year.
Hastings’s library, in brief
One of the busiest library systems its size
The Dakota County Library system logs 3.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 9.4 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
401,160 cards for 449,658 people, or 89%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.6 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. It’s 28% 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; Hastings’s library is a branch of Dakota County Library, so they cover the whole system (449,658 people), not just the Hastings branch.
What’s behind Hastings’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hastings is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #155 of 271 in Minnesota. Hastings is graded on two of the three inputs. Hastings’ 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 →
103 community nonprofits are registered in Hastings
4.7 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 (21 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Hastings’ 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 Hastings’ residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,613,906 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Dakota County Library serves 449,658 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 106 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Dakota County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 24 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
Hastings: Pleasant Hill Library, 1490 Frontage Road, Hastings.
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 Dakota County Library branch.
New in Hastings? 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 $6.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hastings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $17M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $115M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $17M 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 401,160 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | Hastings: Pleasant Hill Library fine-free | — | — | B− |
| Nininger Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Denmark Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Marshan Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Ravenna 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. Hastings: Pleasant Hill Library is one branch of Dakota County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 449,658 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 Hastings
Does Hastings have a public library?
Yes: Hastings: Pleasant Hill Library, 1490 Frontage Road, is a branch of Dakota County Library, which serves 449,658 people.
Is Dakota 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 Hastings’ library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 13.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hastings’ civic life grade?
B− Hastings is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #155 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 Hastings.
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.