Mountain Iron’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Mountain Iron Public Library serves Mountain Iron’s 2,854 residents. Last year it lent 21K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,279 visits.
Mountain Iron’s library, in brief
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people Mountain Iron Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 42% for its size. How it compares ↓
Mountain Iron invests in its library
Mountain Iron Public Library spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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 Mountain Iron’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountain Iron is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #84 of 271 in Minnesota. Mountain Iron’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Mountain Iron
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Mountain Iron’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 Mountain Iron’s residents live; 2022.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.34 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain Iron cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $245K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $327K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $245K 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 490 cardholders ÷ 12.
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.
Mountain Iron Public Library serves 2,854 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
21K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 18K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
3,069 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
68 programs a year
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 Mountain Iron last year.
Find it
Mountain Iron Public Library, 5742 Mountain Avenue, Mountain Iron.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mountain Iron? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Libraries next door
Mountain Iron ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | Virginia Public Library fine-free | 9.6 | 33 | A− |
| Mountain Iron | Mountain Iron Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 36 | B+ |
| Eveleth | Eveleth Public Library | 6.8 | 30 | B− |
| Great Scott Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Clinton Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wuori Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Leonidas | 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 Mountain Iron
Does Mountain Iron have a public library?
Yes. Mountain Iron Public Library, 5742 Mountain Avenue, serves Mountain Iron’s 2,854 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 36 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountain Iron 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 Mountain Iron’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 7.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mountain Iron’s civic life grade?
B+ Mountain Iron is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #84 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 Mountain Iron.
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.