Photo: cjohnson7 · CC BY 2.0Rochester’s library lends 7.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Rochester Public Library serves 156,036 people in and around Rochester. Last year it lent 1.8M books, movies and e-books and logged 399K visits.
What Rochester’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 59% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.4, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 37% of all loans. 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; Rochester Public Library serves 156,036 people in and around Rochester, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Rochester’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rochester is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns, #116 of 271 in Minnesota. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #66. Rochester is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Rochester’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 →
527 community nonprofits are registered in Rochester
4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (122 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 35 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.6%
7.6% of Rochester’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 Rochester’s residents live; 2022.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.8M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
663,109 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 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Rochester Public Library serves 156,036 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 406 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rochester Public Library system. The library’s own count.
About 5 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
Rochester - Main, 101 2nd Street SE, Rochester.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rochester Public Library branch.
New in Rochester? 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 $2.71 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rochester cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $27M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9.8M 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 55,269 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | Rochester - Main fine-free | — | 61 | B |
| Cascade Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Rochester Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Haverhill Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Marion Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| High Forest Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Kalmar Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
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. Rochester Public Library serves 156,036 people in and around Rochester, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Rochester.
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 Rochester
Does Rochester have a public library?
Yes. Rochester Public Library, 101 2nd Street SE, serves 156,036 people in and around Rochester (the survey’s count) and is open about 61 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rochester 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 Rochester’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 11.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Rochester’s civic life grade?
B Rochester is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #116 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 Rochester.
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.