Photo: Jatakuck · CC BY-SA 3.0St. James’ library is a branch of Watonwan County Library, which lends more per resident than 52% of systems its size
St. James’s library is the St. James-Watonwan County Library, a branch of Watonwan County Library, which serves 11,077 people and lent 52K items last year.
What stands out about St. James-Watonwan County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind St. James’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, St. James is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #149 of 271 in Minnesota. St. James is graded on two of the three inputs. St. James’ 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in St. James
8.4 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.0%
4.0% of St. James’ 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 St. James’ residents live; 2022.
About 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Watonwan County Library serves 11,077 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Watonwan County Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,470 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
St. James-Watonwan County Library, 125 5th Street S, St. James.
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 Watonwan County Library branch.
New in St. James? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. James cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $763K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $984K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $763K 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 3,049 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. James | St. James-Watonwan County Library fine-free | — | 47 | B− |
| St. James Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Rosendale 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.
- System-wide. St. James-Watonwan County Library is one branch of Watonwan County Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 11,077 people it serves.
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 St. James
Does St. James have a public library?
Yes: St. James-Watonwan County Library, 125 5th Street S, is a branch of Watonwan County Library, which serves 11,077 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Watonwan County 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 St. James’ library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 4.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is St. James’ civic life grade?
B− St. James is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #149 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 St. James.
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.