Isaac Bargen House · Photo: Jatakuck · CC BY-SA 3.0Mountain Lake’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Mountain Lake Public Library serves Mountain Lake’s 2,300 residents. Last year it lent 29K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
Mountain Lake’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 25 items per child in Mountain Lake last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 133 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Mountain Lake is a town of borrowers
Mountain Lake Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 56% 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Mountain Lake’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mountain Lake is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Mountain 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Mountain Lake
10.1 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Mountain 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 Mountain Lake’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs 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 Mountain Lake last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mountain Lake Public Library serves 2,300 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
29K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 24K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
1,770 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Mountain Lake Public Library, 1054 4th Avenue, Mountain Lake.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mountain 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 $2.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountain Lake cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $181K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $426K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $181K 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 1,163 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Lake | Mountain Lake Public Library | 12.5 | 39 | B |
| Midway Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Mountain Lake 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 Mountain Lake
Does Mountain Lake have a public library?
Yes. Mountain Lake Public Library, 1054 4th Avenue, serves Mountain Lake’s 2,300 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountain 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 Mountain Lake’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mountain Lake’s civic life grade?
B Mountain Lake is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 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.