Photo: Michel Curi · CC BY 2.0Luverne’s library runs 12 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Rock County Community Library serves 9,551 people in and around Luverne. Last year it lent 53K books, movies and e-books and logged 34K visits.
The short version on Luverne’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Luverne Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 8,500 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 117 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 49 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; Rock County Community Library serves 9,551 people in and around Luverne, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Luverne’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Luverne is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #126 of 271 in Minnesota. Luverne is graded on two of the three inputs. Luverne’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Luverne
10.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Luverne’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 Luverne’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Rock County Community Library, 201 West Main, Luverne.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rock County Community Library branch.
New in Luverne? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Luverne Carnegie Library
Luverne Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 18, 1980. It is significant for its education at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts. It was listed as part of Rock County MRA.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Rock County Community Library serves 9,551 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 21 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rock County Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
53K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,248 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.37 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Luverne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $408K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $966K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $408K 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 3,864 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luverne | Rock County Community Library fine-free | — | 49 | B |
| Luverne Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mound 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. Rock County Community Library serves 9,551 people in and around Luverne, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Luverne.
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 Luverne
Does Luverne have a public library?
Yes. Rock County Community Library, 201 West Main, serves 9,551 people in and around Luverne (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rock County Community 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 Luverne’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Luverne’s civic life grade?
B Luverne is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #126 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 Luverne.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.