Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 3.0St. Paul’s library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Saint Paul Public Library serves St. Paul’s 310,997 residents from 12 locations. Last year it lent 2.9M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.3M visits.
St. Paul’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
367,090 cards for 310,997 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. How it compares ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
St. Paul Public/James J. Hill Reference Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. Today’s library there has 90,353 square feet. The buildings ↓
People come to Saint Paul Public Library a lot
Saint Paul Public Library logs 4.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, more than 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 5.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
12 places to borrow in St. Paul
Saint Paul Public Library runs 12 locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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.
What’s behind St. Paul’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, St. Paul is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #69 of 271 in Minnesota. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #37. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; St. Paul’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 →
1,581 community nonprofits are registered in St. Paul
5.1 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 (295 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 92 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of St. Paul’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 St. Paul’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Saint Paul Public Library serves 310,997 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 89 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2.9M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 593K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
1,043,163 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 27 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 St. Paul last year.
A National Register landmark since 1975
St. Paul Public Library - Central, 90 West Fourth Street, Saint Paul.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in St. Paul? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
St. Paul Public/James J. Hill Reference Library
St. Paul Public/James J. Hill Reference Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 11, 1975. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Northern Italian Renaissance.
The James J. Hill Center (originally the James J. Hill Reference Library) was a privately funded business research library at 80 West Fourth Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota. On July 3, 2019, the library closed to the public citing unsustainable operating costs and needed capital improvements. Until 2019 it was open to the public and its resources could be used for free on site.
More about the building →Other libraries in St. Paul
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average St. Paul cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $23M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23M 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 367,090 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. Paul | St. Paul Public Library - Central fine-free | 9.2 | 41 | B+ |
| Maplewood | Maplewood Library fine-free | — | 57 | D |
| Minneapolis | Minneapolis Central Library fine-free | — | 63 | A |
| South St. Paul | South St. Paul: Kaposia Library fine-free | — | — | C |
| West St. Paul | West St. Paul: Wentworth Comm Library fine-free | — | 62 | B |
| Roseville | Roseville Library fine-free | — | 57 | A− |
| Lilydale | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Falcon Heights | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Mendota Heights | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Mendota | 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 St. Paul
Does St. Paul have a public library?
Yes. Saint Paul Public Library, 90 West Fourth Street, serves St. Paul’s 310,997 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Saint Paul 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 St. Paul’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 9.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is St. Paul’s civic life grade?
B+ St. Paul is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #69 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. Paul.
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.