Photo: Jakes19 · Public domainMoose Lake’s library logs 6.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Moose Lake Public Library serves Moose Lake’s 2,757 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
What Moose Lake’s library is like
Busy on a lean budget
Moose Lake Public Library spends $29 per resident, less than 71% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still busier than 79% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 80 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 39 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.
What’s behind Moose Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Moose Lake is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #72 of 271 in Minnesota. Moose Lake’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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Moose Lake
7.7 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.1%
5.1% of Moose Lake’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 Moose Lake’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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.
Moose Lake Public Library serves 2,757 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
3,877 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
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 Moose Lake last year.
Find it
Moose Lake Public Library, 313 Elm Avenue, Moose Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Moose Lake? 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 $3.92 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Moose Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $318K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K 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 1,914 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moose Lake | Moose Lake Public Library | 7.5 | 37 | B+ |
| Moose Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | D− |
| Silver 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 Moose Lake
Does Moose Lake have a public library?
Yes. Moose Lake Public Library, 313 Elm Avenue, serves Moose Lake’s 2,757 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moose Lake Public 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 Moose Lake’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 7.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Moose Lake’s civic life grade?
B+ Moose Lake is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Moose Lake.
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.