Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0Slayton’s library runs 6.6 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Slayton Public Library serves 4,988 people in and around Slayton. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
Slayton’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Slayton Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Slayton Public Library offered 33 programs last year, 6.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
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; Slayton Public Library serves 4,988 people in and around Slayton, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Slayton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Slayton is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Slayton is graded on two of the three inputs. Slayton’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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Slayton
13.6 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 (8 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Slayton’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 Slayton’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Slayton Public Library serves 4,988 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Slayton Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,983 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
33 programs a year
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
Slayton Public Library, 2451 Broadway Av, Slayton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Slayton Public Library branch.
New in Slayton? 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 $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Slayton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $142K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $281K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $142K 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 1,235 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Slayton Public Library serves 4,988 people in and around Slayton, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Slayton.
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 Slayton
Does Slayton have a public library?
Yes. Slayton Public Library, 2451 Broadway Av, serves 4,988 people in and around Slayton (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Slayton 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 Slayton’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Slayton’s civic life grade?
B+ Slayton is ahead of 72% 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 Slayton.
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.