Kasson Public School · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY 4.0Kasson’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Kasson Public Library serves 17,848 people in and around Kasson. Last year it lent 56K books, movies and e-books and logged 22K visits.
Kasson’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Kasson Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 59% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 55% of similar-size libraries. 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; Kasson Public Library serves 17,848 people in and around Kasson, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kasson’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kasson is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #80 of 271 in Minnesota. Kasson is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Kasson’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 →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Kasson
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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Kasson’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 Kasson’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Kasson Public Library serves 17,848 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kasson Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
56K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
8,917 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.
Find it
Kasson Public Library, 607 First Street NW, Kasson.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kasson Public Library branch.
New in Kasson? 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 $1.75 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kasson cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $482K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $841K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $482K 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 4,267 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasson | Kasson Public Library | — | 38 | B+ |
| Mantorville Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Canisteo Township | 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.
- System-wide. Kasson Public Library serves 17,848 people in and around Kasson, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kasson.
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 Kasson
Does Kasson have a public library?
Yes. Kasson Public Library, 607 First Street NW, serves 17,848 people in and around Kasson (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kasson Public 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 Kasson’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Kasson’s civic life grade?
B+ Kasson is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Kasson.
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.