Lake Benton’s library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lake Benton Public Library serves Lake Benton’s 1,364 residents. Last year it lent 8,773 books, movies and e-books and logged 5,738 visits.
Lake Benton’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Lake Benton Public Library serves 1,364 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 36 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people Lake Benton Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Lake Benton’s civic life grade
Lake Benton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lake Benton Public Library serves 1,364 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,773 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
1,028 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
32 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Lake Benton last year.
Find it
Lake Benton Public Library, 110 East Benton St., Lake Benton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lake Benton? 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 $2.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Benton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $47K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $130K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $47K 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 247 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Benton | Lake Benton Public Library | 6.4 | 36 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lake Benton 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Lake Benton
Does Lake Benton have a public library?
Yes. Lake Benton Public Library, 110 East Benton St., serves Lake Benton’s 1,364 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lake Benton 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 Lake Benton’s library?
It logged 4.2 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lake Benton’s civic life grade?
Lake Benton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Lake Benton.
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.