Lonsdale Public School · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Lonsdale’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Lonsdale Public Library serves 10,175 people in and around Lonsdale. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,982 visits.
The short version on Lonsdale’s library
Lonsdale Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Lonsdale Public Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Lonsdale Public Library offered 43 programs last year, 4.2 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 18% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 79% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Lonsdale Public Library serves 10,175 people in and around Lonsdale, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Lonsdale’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Lonsdale is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #85 of 271 in Minnesota. Lonsdale is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Lonsdale’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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Lonsdale
4.6 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.9%
7.9% of Lonsdale’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 Lonsdale’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.
Lonsdale Public Library serves 10,175 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lonsdale Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,633 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
43 programs a year
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
Lonsdale Public Library, 1006 Birch Street NE, Lonsdale.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lonsdale Public Library branch.
New in Lonsdale? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lonsdale cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $305K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $212K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $305K 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 1,846 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lonsdale | Lonsdale Public Library fine-free | — | 32 | B+ |
| Wheatland Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Webster Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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. Lonsdale Public Library serves 10,175 people in and around Lonsdale, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lonsdale.
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 Lonsdale
Does Lonsdale have a public library?
Yes. Lonsdale Public Library, 1006 Birch Street NE, serves 10,175 people in and around Lonsdale (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lonsdale 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 Lonsdale’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Lonsdale’s civic life grade?
B+ Lonsdale is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #85 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 Lonsdale.
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.