Red Wing Waterworks · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0Red Wing’s library lends 7.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Red Wing Public Library serves 22,068 people in and around Red Wing. Last year it lent 194K books, movies and e-books and logged 120K visits.
What stands out about Red Wing Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Red Wing’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Red Wing is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns, #14 of 271 in Minnesota. Red Wing is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Red Wing’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 →
110 community nonprofits are registered in Red Wing
6.6 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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.9%
10.9% of Red Wing’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 Red Wing’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
194K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
19,123 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Red Wing Public Library serves 22,068 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 72 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Red Wing Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 4 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
Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Avenue, Red Wing.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Red Wing Public Library branch.
New in Red Wing? 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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Red Wing cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 8,968 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Wing | Red Wing Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | A |
| Trenton | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Diamond Bluff | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Wacouta Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Hay Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Featherstone Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Welch Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Isabelle | 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.
- System-wide. Red Wing Public Library serves 22,068 people in and around Red Wing, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Red Wing.
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 Red Wing
Does Red Wing have a public library?
Yes. Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Avenue, serves 22,068 people in and around Red Wing (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Red Wing 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 Red Wing’s library?
It logged 5.4 visits and lent 8.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Red Wing’s civic life grade?
A Red Wing is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Red Wing.
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.