Michael Scanlan House · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Lanesboro’s library lends 9.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Lanesboro Public Library serves Lanesboro’s 1,958 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,603 visits.
What Lanesboro’s library is like
A small-town library
Lanesboro Public Library serves 1,958 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
77% of the 57 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 30 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 Lanesboro’s civic life grade
Lanesboro 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 →
Mostly books and media off the shelf
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
2,017 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lanesboro Public Library serves 1,958 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
57 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 Lanesboro last year.
Find it
Lanesboro Public Library, 202 Parkway Ave. S., Lanesboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Lanesboro? 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 $2.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lanesboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $143K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $325K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $143K 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 1,076 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanesboro | Lanesboro Public Library fine-free | 10.4 | 30 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Carrolton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Holt 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 Lanesboro
Does Lanesboro have a public library?
Yes. Lanesboro Public Library, 202 Parkway Ave. S., serves Lanesboro’s 1,958 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lanesboro Public 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 Lanesboro’s library?
It logged 4.4 visits and lent 10.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lanesboro’s civic life grade?
Lanesboro 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 Lanesboro.
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.