Calumet Hotel · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Pipestone’s library runs 49 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Pipestone: Meinders Community Library serves Pipestone’s 7,063 residents. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
What stands out about Pipestone’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Pipestone’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pipestone is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #5 of 271 in Minnesota. Pipestone is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Pipestone’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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Pipestone
11.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.1%
11.1% of Pipestone’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 Pipestone’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Pipestone: Meinders Community Library, 220 3rd Ave SE, Pipestone.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pipestone? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Pipestone Public Library
Pipestone Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 3, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. It was listed as part of Pipestone County MRA.
Pipestone Public Library in Pipestone, Minnesota, United States, is a Carnegie library that was built in 1904. It was an important work of architect Joseph Schwartz. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The building is made of Sioux quartzite.
More about the building →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.
Pipestone: Meinders Community Library serves 7,063 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
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
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 21K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
4,681 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Pipestone last year.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.52 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pipestone cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $221K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $558K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $221K 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 1,482 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipestone | Pipestone: Meinders Community Library fine-free | 4.8 | 45 | A+ |
| Sweet Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Gray 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 Pipestone
Does Pipestone have a public library?
Yes. Pipestone: Meinders Community Library, 220 3rd Ave SE, serves Pipestone’s 7,063 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pipestone: Meinders Community 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 Pipestone’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 4.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Pipestone’s civic life grade?
A+ Pipestone is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #5 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 Pipestone.
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.