Photo: Blanderson1869 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lake Crystal’s library is a branch of Blue Earth County Library, which lends more per resident than 61% of systems its size
Lake Crystal’s library is the Lake Crystal Public Library, a branch of Blue Earth County Library, which serves 70,291 people and lent 398K items last year.
What Lake Crystal’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
The Blue Earth County Library system offered 330 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is higher than at 73% 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; Lake Crystal’s library is a branch of Blue Earth County Library, so they cover the whole system (70,291 people), not just the Lake Crystal branch.
What’s behind Lake Crystal’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lake Crystal is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Lake Crystal is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lake Crystal’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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Lake Crystal
6.9 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.2%
11.2% of Lake Crystal’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 Lake Crystal’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Blue Earth County Library serves 70,291 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Blue Earth County Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
398K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
59,592 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Lake Crystal Public Library, 100 Robinson Street, Lake Crystal.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Blue Earth County Library branch.
New in Lake Crystal? 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 $3.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lake Crystal cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $5.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 16,032 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 Crystal | Lake Crystal Public Library | — | 31 | A |
| Judson Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Garden City 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. Lake Crystal Public Library is one branch of Blue Earth County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 70,291 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 Lake Crystal
Does Lake Crystal have a public library?
Yes: Lake Crystal Public Library, 100 Robinson Street, is a branch of Blue Earth County Library, which serves 70,291 people. The branch is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Blue Earth County 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 Crystal’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Lake Crystal’s civic life grade?
A Lake Crystal is ahead of 95% 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 Lake Crystal.
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.