Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Mankato’s library lends 4.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Blue Earth County Library serves 70,291 people in and around Mankato. Last year it lent 398K books, movies and e-books and logged 147K visits.
Mankato’s library, in brief
Few programs for a library this size
Blue Earth County Library offered 330 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Mankato Public Library and Reading Room has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 38,400 square feet. The building ↓
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; Blue Earth County Library serves 70,291 people in and around Mankato, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mankato’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Mankato is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #62 of 271 in Minnesota. Mankato is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Mankato’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 →
215 community nonprofits are registered in Mankato
4.7 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 (49 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.
8.8%
8.8% of Mankato’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 Mankato’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Blue Earth County Library, 100 East Main Street, Mankato.
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 Mankato? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Mankato Public Library and Reading Room
Mankato Public Library and Reading Room was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 28, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Renaissance Revival. It was listed as part of Blue Earth County MRA.
The Mankato Public Library and Reading Room is a former library building in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It was built as a Carnegie library from 1902 to 1903 and housed Mankato's public library until 1977. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and education.
More about the building →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.
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 Mankato 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mankato | Blue Earth County Library | — | 52 | A− |
| North Mankato | North Mankato Central fine-free | — | 40 | B+ |
| Mankato Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Lime Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Skyline | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Belgrade Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| South Bend Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Kasota 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. Blue Earth County Library serves 70,291 people in and around Mankato, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mankato.
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 Mankato
Does Mankato have a public library?
Yes. Blue Earth County Library, 100 East Main Street, serves 70,291 people in and around Mankato (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 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 Mankato’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 Mankato’s civic life grade?
A− Mankato is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #62 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 Mankato.
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.