Photo: PinchyCC · CC BY-SA 4.0Maplewood’s library is a branch of Ramsey County Library, which lends more per resident than 92% of systems its size
Maplewood’s library is the Maplewood Library, a branch of Ramsey County Library, which serves 240,198 people and lent 3.1M items last year.
What Maplewood’s library is like
A system of heavy borrowers
The Ramsey County Library system lends 8.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. It’s 33% of all loans. 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; Maplewood’s library is a branch of Ramsey County Library, so they cover the whole system (240,198 people), not just the Maplewood branch.
What’s behind Maplewood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Maplewood is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns, #262 of 271 in Minnesota. Maplewood is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($69K–$114K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
90 community nonprofits are registered in Maplewood
2.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (34 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.7%
5.7% of Maplewood’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 Maplewood’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,013,861 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Ramsey County Library serves 240,198 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 184 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Ramsey County Library system. The library’s own count.
About 18 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
Maplewood Library, 3025 Southlawn Dr, Maplewood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Ramsey County Library branch.
New in Maplewood? 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 $3.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Maplewood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $46M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 152,145 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | St. Paul Public Library - Central fine-free | 9.2 | 41 | B+ |
| Maplewood | Maplewood Library fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| North St. Paul | North St. Paul Library fine-free | — | 34 | D |
| White Bear Lake | White Bear Lake Library fine-free | — | 43 | B− |
| Woodbury | Rh Stafford Library fine-free | — | 58 | C |
| Roseville | Roseville Library fine-free | — | 57 | A− |
| Little Canada | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Vadnais Heights | 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. Maplewood Library is one branch of Ramsey County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 240,198 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 Maplewood
Does Maplewood have a public library?
Yes: Maplewood Library, 3025 Southlawn Dr, is a branch of Ramsey County Library, which serves 240,198 people. The branch is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ramsey County 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 Maplewood’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 12.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Maplewood’s civic life grade?
D Maplewood is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns on civic life, #262 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 Maplewood.
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.