Martin T. Gunderson House · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Kenyon’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Kenyon Public Library serves 5,663 people in and around Kenyon. Last year it lent 23K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
What Kenyon’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 131 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Kenyon Public Library serves 5,663 people in and around Kenyon, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Kenyon’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Kenyon is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns. Kenyon is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Kenyon’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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Kenyon
11.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Kenyon’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 Kenyon’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Kenyon Public Library serves 5,663 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Kenyon Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
23K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,588 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
Kenyon Public Library, 709 2nd Street, Kenyon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Kenyon Public Library branch.
New in Kenyon? 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 $2.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Kenyon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $179K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $370K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $179K 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 1,013 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenyon | Kenyon Public Library | — | 37 | A |
| Kenyon 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. Kenyon Public Library serves 5,663 people in and around Kenyon, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Kenyon.
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 Kenyon
Does Kenyon have a public library?
Yes. Kenyon Public Library, 709 2nd Street, serves 5,663 people in and around Kenyon (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Kenyon 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 Kenyon’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Kenyon’s civic life grade?
A Kenyon is ahead of 86% 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 Kenyon.
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.